North Carolina County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 100 counties in North Carolina, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average North Carolina county scores 59.8. 35 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
North Carolina Snapshot
100 Counties Scored
59.8 Mean Score
60.9 Median Score
99 Edgecombe County Most Distressed
4 Camden County Least Distressed
13 extreme county distress10 very high county distress12 high county distress17 moderate-high county distress11 moderate county distress17 moderate-low county distress10 low-moderate county distress3 low county distress6 very low county distress1 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution North Carolina County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 100 North Carolina 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 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 | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | Edgecombe County | 99 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 2 | 38 | Halifax County | 98 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 3 | 89 | Robeson County | 97 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 4 | — | Washington County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 5 | — | Vance County | 96 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 6 | — | Bladen County | 95 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 7 | — | Northampton County | 95 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 8 | — | Scotland County | 94 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 9 | — | Richmond County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 10 | — | Hertford County | 93 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 11 | — | Anson County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 12 | — | Bertie County | 92 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 13 | — | Cumberland County | 90 | extreme county distress | Delinquency |
| 14 | — | Wilson County | 88 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 15 | — | Lenoir County | 87 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 16 | — | Hyde County | 86 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 17 | — | Pitt County | 84 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 18 | — | Warren County | 84 | very high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 19 | — | Columbus County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 20 | — | Sampson County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 21 | — | Martin County | 82 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 22 | — | Wayne County | 81 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 23 | — | Cleveland County | 80 | very high county distress | Delinquency |
| 24 | — | Hoke County | 79 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 25 | — | Jones County | 78 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 26 | — | Chowan County | 78 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Duplin County | 77 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 28 | — | Graham County | 76 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 29 | — | Greene County | 76 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 30 | — | Rutherford County | 75 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 31 | — | Rockingham County | 74 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 32 | — | Gaston County | 74 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Nash County | 73 | high county distress | Delinquency |
| 34 | — | Tyrrell County | 73 | high county distress | Labor |
| 35 | — | Gates County | 70 | high county distress | Default & Legal |
| 36 | — | Person County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 37 | — | Rowan County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 38 | — | Franklin County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Granville County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 40 | — | Pasquotank County | 67 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 41 | — | Beaufort County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 42 | — | Randolph County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 43 | — | Burke County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 44 | — | Swain County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 45 | — | Guilford County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 46 | — | Onslow County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 47 | — | Montgomery County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 48 | — | Caswell County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 49 | — | Forsyth County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 50 | — | Caldwell County | 61 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 51 | — | Surry County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 52 | — | McDowell County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 53 | — | Craven County | 59 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 54 | — | Wilkes County | 58 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 55 | — | Alleghany County | 58 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 56 | — | Alamance County | 58 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Madison County | 57 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 58 | — | Harnett County | 56 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 59 | — | Lee County | 54 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 60 | — | Davidson County | 53 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 61 | — | Mecklenburg County | 51 | moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 62 | — | Jackson County | 51 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 63 | — | Stokes County | 51 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 64 | — | Haywood County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 65 | — | Cherokee County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 66 | — | Johnston County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 67 | — | Pamlico County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 68 | — | Buncombe County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 69 | — | Alexander County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 70 | — | Durham County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 71 | — | Yadkin County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 72 | — | Stanly County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 73 | — | Yancey County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 74 | — | Brunswick County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 75 | — | Transylvania County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 76 | — | Clay County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 77 | — | New Hanover County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 78 | — | Catawba County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Delinquency |
| 79 | — | Cabarrus County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 80 | — | Perquimans County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 81 | — | Iredell County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 82 | — | Macon County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 83 | — | Mitchell County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 84 | — | Davie County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 85 | — | Watauga County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 86 | — | Avery County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 87 | — | Pender County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 88 | — | Ashe County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 89 | — | Henderson County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 90 | — | Lincoln County | 30 | low-moderate county distress | Delinquency |
| 91 | — | Carteret County | 24 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 92 | — | Orange County | 23 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 93 | — | Polk County | 22 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 94 | — | Wake County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 95 | — | Moore County | 19 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 96 | — | Union County | 17 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 97 | — | Dare County | 17 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 98 | — | Chatham County | 11 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 99 | — | Currituck County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 100 | — | Camden County | 4 | exceptionally low county distress | Delinquency |
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 — 13 North Carolina counties
very high county distress — 10 North Carolina counties
high county distress — 12 North Carolina counties
moderate-high county distress — 17 North Carolina counties
moderate county distress — 11 North Carolina counties
moderate-low county distress — 17 North Carolina counties
low-moderate county distress — 10 North Carolina counties
low county distress — 3 North Carolina counties
very low county distress — 6 North Carolina counties
exceptionally low county distress — 1 North Carolina county