North Carolina County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 100 counties in North Carolina, scored 0–100 across five domains. Mean score: 58.1. 31counties are in Serious or Crisis.
Data: Census, BLS, Urban Institute, HUD, US Courts | Scores as of 2026-03-26
North Carolina Snapshot
100 Counties Scored
58.1 Mean Score
57.7 Median Score
82.9 Hertford County Most Distressed
30.8 Camden County Least Distressed
5 Crisis 26 Serious 42 Elevated 24 Normal 3 Healthy
Zone Distribution North Carolina County Map
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Healthy Normal Elevated Serious Crisis
All 100 North Carolina counties colored by distress zone. Hover for details; click released counties for full reports.
Most & Least Distressed
Most Distressed
Least Distressed
Score Distribution
How North Carolina's 100 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All North Carolina Counties
100 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Zone | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Hertford County | 82.9 | Crisis | Housing Cost Burden |
| 2 | 36 | Edgecombe County | 82.6 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 3 | 40 | Vance County | 82.3 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 4 | 46 | Halifax County | 81.7 | Crisis | Structural Poverty |
| 5 | 50 | Scotland County | 81.2 | Crisis | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 6 | 73 | Robeson County | 79.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 7 | 100 | Washington County | 78.1 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 8 | 116 | Anson County | 77.5 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 9 | 139 | Bertie County | 76.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 10 | 161 | Wilson County | 75.8 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 11 | 174 | Northampton County | 75.4 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 12 | 194 | Richmond County | 74.8 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 13 | 200 | Martin County | 74.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 14 | 215 | Cumberland County | 74.3 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 15 | 241 | Greene County | 73.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 16 | 287 | Pitt County | 72.6 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 17 | 296 | Warren County | 72.4 | Serious | Structural Poverty |
| 18 | 335 | Lenoir County | 71.4 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 19 | 339 | Wayne County | 71.4 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 20 | 358 | Gaston County | 70.7 | Serious | Economic Vitality |
| 21 | 359 | Pasquotank County | 70.7 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 22 | 388 | Duplin County | 70.0 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 23 | 405 | Cleveland County | 69.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 24 | 421 | Bladen County | 69.3 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 25 | 433 | Jones County | 69.1 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 26 | 465 | Person County | 68.5 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 27 | 485 | Hyde County | 68.1 | Serious | Housing Cost Burden |
| 28 | 502 | Columbus County | 67.9 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 29 | 503 | Hoke County | 67.9 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 30 | 511 | Nash County | 67.7 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 31 | 563 | Sampson County | 66.8 | Serious | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 32 | 695 | Rutherford County | 64.2 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 33 | 697 | Onslow County | 64.2 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 34 | 714 | Franklin County | 63.9 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 35 | 735 | Beaufort County | 63.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 36 | 736 | Guilford County | 63.6 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 37 | 737 | Chowan County | 63.6 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 38 | 798 | Craven County | 62.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 39 | 801 | Randolph County | 62.5 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 40 | 866 | Caswell County | 61.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 41 | 869 | Rowan County | 61.2 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 42 | 891 | Harnett County | 61.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 43 | 894 | Granville County | 60.9 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 44 | 902 | Burke County | 60.7 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 45 | 912 | Rockingham County | 60.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 46 | 940 | Graham County | 60.1 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 47 | 945 | Forsyth County | 60.1 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 48 | 1,036 | Alamance County | 58.7 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 49 | 1,052 | Gates County | 58.3 | Elevated | Legal Distress |
| 50 | 1,089 | Lee County | 57.8 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 51 | 1,108 | Mecklenburg County | 57.6 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 52 | 1,116 | Caldwell County | 57.6 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 53 | 1,136 | Swain County | 57.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 54 | 1,141 | Tyrrell County | 57.1 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 55 | 1,245 | Johnston County | 55.5 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 56 | 1,325 | Durham County | 54.3 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 57 | 1,331 | Wilkes County | 54.2 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 58 | 1,340 | Perquimans County | 54.0 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 59 | 1,368 | Surry County | 53.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 60 | 1,372 | Davidson County | 53.5 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 61 | 1,374 | Jackson County | 53.4 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 62 | 1,387 | McDowell County | 53.2 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 63 | 1,388 | Cabarrus County | 53.1 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 64 | 1,436 | New Hanover County | 52.3 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 65 | 1,444 | Clay County | 52.1 | Elevated | Structural Poverty |
| 66 | 1,453 | Buncombe County | 52.0 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 67 | 1,506 | Yadkin County | 51.2 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 68 | 1,521 | Montgomery County | 51.0 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 69 | 1,527 | Madison County | 50.9 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 70 | 1,544 | Pamlico County | 50.5 | Elevated | Economic Vitality |
| 71 | 1,545 | Macon County | 50.5 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 72 | 1,559 | Stanly County | 50.3 | Elevated | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 73 | 1,571 | Pender County | 50.1 | Elevated | Housing Cost Burden |
| 74 | 1,580 | Haywood County | 50.0 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 75 | 1,628 | Catawba County | 49.2 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 76 | 1,670 | Alleghany County | 48.6 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 77 | 1,708 | Cherokee County | 48.0 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 78 | 1,795 | Brunswick County | 46.7 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 79 | 1,798 | Alexander County | 46.7 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 80 | 1,805 | Stokes County | 46.6 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 81 | 1,870 | Transylvania County | 45.5 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 82 | 1,885 | Iredell County | 45.2 | Normal | Consumer Credit Distress |
| 83 | 1,913 | Lincoln County | 44.7 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 84 | 1,936 | Carteret County | 44.3 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 85 | 1,975 | Watauga County | 43.6 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 86 | 1,988 | Wake County | 43.4 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 87 | 2,036 | Avery County | 42.5 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 88 | 2,057 | Polk County | 42.2 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 89 | 2,115 | Henderson County | 41.2 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 90 | 2,160 | Yancey County | 40.5 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 91 | 2,192 | Davie County | 40.0 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 92 | 2,209 | Mitchell County | 39.7 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 93 | 2,233 | Dare County | 39.3 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 94 | 2,244 | Union County | 39.1 | Normal | Economic Vitality |
| 95 | 2,271 | Moore County | 38.7 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 96 | 2,320 | Orange County | 37.9 | Normal | Housing Cost Burden |
| 97 | 2,354 | Ashe County | 37.2 | Normal | Structural Poverty |
| 98 | 2,616 | Currituck County | 32.5 | Healthy | Economic Vitality |
| 99 | 2,668 | Chatham County | 31.6 | Healthy | Economic Vitality |
| 100 | 2,717 | Camden County | 30.8 | Healthy | Economic Vitality |
How County Scores Work
Each county is scored 0–100 using PCA-weighted percentile-rank scoring across five statistically derived dimensions: Consumer Credit Distress, Housing Cost Burden, Structural Poverty, Economic Vitality, and Legal Distress. A score of 50 means the county falls at the national median. Higher scores indicate greater household financial distress.
Crisis (≥80) — Among the most distressed counties in the country
Serious (65–80) — More distressed than roughly 80% of counties
Elevated (50–65) — More distressed than roughly half of counties
Normal (35–50) — Near the national median
Healthy (<35) — Less distressed than most counties