Minnesota County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 87 counties in Minnesota, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Minnesota county scores 21.4.
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
Minnesota Snapshot
87 Counties Scored
21.4 Mean Score
18.2 Median Score
62 Mahnomen County Most Distressed
2 Carver County Least Distressed
1 moderate-high county distress1 moderate county distress4 moderate-low county distress13 low-moderate county distress22 low county distress31 very low county distress15 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution Minnesota County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 87 Minnesota 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 Minnesota's 87 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Minnesota Counties
87 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Mahnomen County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 2 | — | Beltrami County | 55 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Wadena County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 4 | — | Pine County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 5 | — | Ramsey County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 6 | — | Swift County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Isanti County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | Itasca County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 9 | — | Lake County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 10 | — | Mower County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 11 | — | Kanabec County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 12 | — | Mille Lacs County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Aitkin County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Clearwater County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 15 | — | St. Louis County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Freeborn County | 32 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 17 | — | Faribault County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 18 | — | Benton County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 19 | — | Stearns County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 20 | — | Hubbard County | 29 | low county distress | Labor |
| 21 | — | Crow Wing County | 28 | low county distress | Labor |
| 22 | — | Carlton County | 27 | low county distress | Labor |
| 23 | — | Koochiching County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Renville County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 25 | — | Cass County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Chisago County | 26 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Steele County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 28 | — | Meeker County | 26 | low county distress | Labor |
| 29 | — | Blue Earth County | 25 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Hennepin County | 25 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Redwood County | 25 | low county distress | Labor |
| 32 | — | Anoka County | 24 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Martin County | 24 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 34 | — | Nobles County | 24 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 35 | — | Becker County | 23 | low county distress | Labor |
| 36 | — | Grant County | 23 | low county distress | Labor |
| 37 | — | Norman County | 21 | low county distress | Labor |
| 38 | — | Clay County | 21 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Big Stone County | 20 | low county distress | Labor |
| 40 | — | Chippewa County | 20 | low county distress | Labor |
| 41 | — | Traverse County | 20 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 42 | — | Todd County | 19 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 43 | — | Dakota County | 18 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 44 | — | Pennington County | 18 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 45 | — | Rice County | 17 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 46 | — | Lincoln County | 17 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 47 | — | Cottonwood County | 17 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 48 | — | Lyon County | 17 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 49 | — | Dodge County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Polk County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 51 | — | Pipestone County | 16 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 52 | — | Kandiyohi County | 16 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 53 | — | Sherburne County | 16 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | McLeod County | 16 | very low county distress | Default & Legal |
| 55 | — | Pope County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Morrison County | 15 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 57 | — | Waseca County | 14 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 58 | — | Brown County | 14 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 59 | — | Wilkin County | 14 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 60 | — | Wright County | 13 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 61 | — | Sibley County | 13 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 62 | — | Lake of the Woods County | 12 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 63 | — | Goodhue County | 12 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 64 | — | Otter Tail County | 12 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 65 | — | Watonwan County | 12 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 66 | — | Winona County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 67 | — | Le Sueur County | 11 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 68 | — | Washington County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 69 | — | Cook County | 11 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 70 | — | Houston County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 71 | — | Lac qui Parle County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 72 | — | Roseau County | 10 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 73 | — | Yellow Medicine County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 74 | — | Red Lake County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 75 | — | Scott County | 8 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 76 | — | Murray County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 77 | — | Olmsted County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 78 | — | Marshall County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 79 | — | Jackson County | 7 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 80 | — | Stevens County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 81 | — | Nicollet County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 82 | — | Fillmore County | 6 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 83 | — | Kittson County | 5 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 84 | — | Douglas County | 4 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 85 | — | Rock County | 4 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 86 | — | Wabasha County | 4 | exceptionally low county distress | Labor |
| 87 | 3,058 | Carver County | 2 | exceptionally low county distress | Default & Legal |
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 Minnesota counties
very high county distress — 0 Minnesota counties
high county distress — 0 Minnesota counties
moderate-high county distress — 1 Minnesota county
moderate county distress — 1 Minnesota county
moderate-low county distress — 4 Minnesota counties
low-moderate county distress — 13 Minnesota counties
low county distress — 22 Minnesota counties
very low county distress — 31 Minnesota counties
exceptionally low county distress — 15 Minnesota counties