Kansas County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 105 counties in Kansas, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Kansas county scores 27.1. 4 counties score high, very high, or extreme.
Data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts | Scores as of Aug 2026
Kansas Snapshot
105 Counties Scored
27.1 Mean Score
23.4 Median Score
89 Wyandotte County Most Distressed
0 Gray County Least Distressed
1 very high county distress3 high county distress12 moderate county distress5 moderate-low county distress17 low-moderate county distress20 low county distress27 very low county distress20 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution Kansas County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 105 Kansas counties colored by county distress score range. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How Kansas's 105 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Kansas Counties
105 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Wyandotte County | 89 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | — | Montgomery County | 72 | high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 3 | — | Geary County | 71 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 4 | — | Bourbon County | 70 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 5 | — | Chautauqua County | 59 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 6 | — | Crawford County | 58 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 7 | — | Cherokee County | 58 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 8 | — | Woodson County | 57 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 9 | — | Labette County | 56 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 10 | — | Elk County | 55 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 11 | — | Linn County | 55 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 12 | — | Allen County | 55 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Shawnee County | 54 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 14 | — | Greenwood County | 53 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 15 | — | Neosho County | 51 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 16 | — | Reno County | 50 | moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 17 | — | Cowley County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 18 | — | Sedgwick County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 19 | — | Lyon County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 20 | — | Harper County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 21 | — | Franklin County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 22 | — | Seward County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 23 | — | Ford County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 24 | — | Barton County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 25 | — | Wilson County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Anderson County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 27 | — | Saline County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 28 | — | Coffey County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 29 | — | Edwards County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 30 | — | Riley County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Sumner County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 32 | — | Pawnee County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 33 | — | Comanche County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 34 | — | Atchison County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 35 | — | Grant County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 36 | — | Douglas County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 37 | — | Dickinson County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 38 | — | Finney County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 39 | — | Doniphan County | 29 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 40 | — | Osage County | 28 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 41 | — | Sherman County | 28 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 42 | — | Stevens County | 28 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 43 | — | Rush County | 27 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 44 | — | Ottawa County | 27 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 45 | — | Leavenworth County | 27 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 46 | — | Brown County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 47 | — | Rice County | 26 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 48 | — | Lincoln County | 26 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 49 | — | Rooks County | 25 | low county distress | Delinquency |
| 50 | — | Clay County | 24 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 51 | — | Wallace County | 24 | low county distress | Labor |
| 52 | — | Jewell County | 24 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 53 | — | Stafford County | 23 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 54 | — | Morton County | 22 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 55 | — | Marshall County | 22 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Stanton County | 20 | low county distress | Labor |
| 57 | — | Butler County | 20 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 58 | — | Ellsworth County | 20 | low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 59 | — | Morris County | 19 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 60 | — | Clark County | 19 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 61 | — | Chase County | 19 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 62 | — | Graham County | 19 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 63 | — | Kearny County | 19 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 64 | — | Decatur County | 19 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 65 | — | Harvey County | 18 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 66 | — | Pratt County | 18 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 67 | — | Osborne County | 18 | very low county distress | Delinquency |
| 68 | — | Cloud County | 18 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 69 | — | Hamilton County | 17 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 70 | — | Russell County | 16 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 71 | — | Jackson County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 72 | — | Cheyenne County | 16 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 73 | — | Wichita County | 16 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 74 | — | Miami County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 75 | — | Lane County | 16 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 76 | — | Smith County | 15 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 77 | — | Phillips County | 14 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 78 | — | Marion County | 13 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 79 | — | Rawlins County | 13 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 80 | — | Norton County | 12 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 81 | — | Kingman County | 12 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 82 | — | Republic County | 11 | very low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 83 | — | Meade County | 11 | very low county distress | Delinquency |
| 84 | — | Ellis County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 85 | — | Thomas County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 86 | — | Wabaunsee County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 87 | — | Haskell County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 88 | — | Kiowa County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 89 | — | Hodgeman County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Delinquency |
| 90 | — | Logan County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 91 | — | Scott County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 92 | — | Greeley County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 93 | — | McPherson County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 94 | — | Jefferson County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 95 | — | Trego County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 96 | — | Barber County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 97 | — | Sheridan County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 98 | — | Johnson County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 99 | — | Gove County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 100 | — | Mitchell County | 4 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 101 | — | Ness County | 3 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 102 | — | Washington County | 3 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 103 | 3,109 | Pottawatomie County | 1 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 104 | 3,119 | Nemaha County | 0 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 105 | 3,126 | Gray County | 0 | exceptionally low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using five equal-weighted domains. Each domain averages its member indicators' county ranks, the domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every U.S. county. So a county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. National ranks are shown only for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties, because ranks in between move between updates. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied.
extreme county distress — 0 Kansas counties
very high county distress — 1 Kansas county
high county distress — 3 Kansas counties
moderate-high county distress — 0 Kansas counties
moderate county distress — 12 Kansas counties
moderate-low county distress — 5 Kansas counties
low-moderate county distress — 17 Kansas counties
low county distress — 20 Kansas counties
very low county distress — 27 Kansas counties
exceptionally low county distress — 20 Kansas counties