#36 Ohio · 2026

Crawford County, Ohio

55 · moderate county distress more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties · 36th of 88 counties in Ohio · 41,529 residents How this is calculated →
The headline number
210 Crawford residents
vs.
126 U.S. median

Above the national median for bankruptcy filing rate — and 28.7× the rate of the healthiest U.S. county (Glacier County, MT — 7).

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, F-5A (2025)

Main Findings

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Crawford County, Ohio is more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties on the County Distress Index. The driver: a bankruptcy filing rate of 210 — above the national median of 126. Its highest-scoring domain is Default & Legal and its lowest is Debt Burden (housing basis).

Key Findings
  • 36th of 88 counties in Ohio on the County Distress Index — 55 · moderate county distress, more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties.
  • A bankruptcy filing rate of 210 (U.S. median 126). Bankruptcy filing rate at the 77th percentile nationally. Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, F-5A (2025).
  • Credit card delinquency at 7% — national median 5%, ranked at the 78th percentile. Source: Urban Institute Debt in America (2025).
  • Disability rate at 16% — national median 16%, ranked at the 50th percentile. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2024).
  • Unemployment (average of monthly rates) at 4% — national median 4%, ranked at the 59th percentile. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS (monthly rates averaged, September 2025 to August 2026; no figures published for October 2025).
Distinctive Signals
Boundary Signal

Neighbors span four CDI score labels. The 56-point drop to Wyandot County marks where the Ohio distress corridor ends.

County Distress Index cluster map. Crawford County, Ohio and its neighbors colored by county distress score label.
Crawford and its 6 geographic neighbors, graded by County Distress Index score. Crawford County is more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties. American Default Research
Wire summary — paste-ready, any angle 26 words

Crawford County has a moderate county distress score. The county sits near the middle of the CDI score scale, so the domain mix carries the story.

— American Default Research
Index note — for feature use 33 words

The CDI gives this county a moderate county distress label. The domain mix matters because the same composite score can come from very different local conditions. Its highest-scoring domain is Default & Legal.

— American Default Research

Indicator History

Period-correct raw indicators from the county-history panel. The CDI composite is excluded because it is a current cross-sectional score.

Updated Sep 22, 2026
BLS 1990 to 2025

Unemployment rate

5.3% -4.6 percentage points since 1990
Census 1989 to 2024

Poverty rate

11.2% -0.4 percentage points since 1989
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis 1969 to 2024

Transfer income share

32.4% +25.2 percentage points since 1969
Equifax data retrieved via FRED 2014 Q2 to 2025 Q4

Subprime credit population

25.5% -6.01 percentage points since 2014 Q2

The Indicators Behind Crawford County's CDI Score

Every number traces to a public source. Crawford County's value shown alongside OH's median and the U.S. median. Full CSV available for download.

How to read the table. A domain score is a 0–100 composite of the indicators in that domain; higher values represent a higher mean of distress-oriented indicator percentiles. A county's domain rank is computed separately against all counties. Percentile is Crawford County's national rank among all 3,144 U.S. counties for that indicator, always oriented so higher = more distressed.
Indicator Crawford OH median U.S. median Pctile Source
Delinquency — domain score 66 · Rank 996 of 3,144
Auto loan delinquency Share of auto loan accounts 60+ days past due 6% 5% 5% 63rd Urban Institute Debt in America (2025)
Credit card delinquency Share of credit card accounts 60+ days past due 7% 5% 5% 78th Urban Institute Debt in America (2025)
Subprime credit share Share of residents with a credit score below 660 26% 24% 23% 59th Equifax data retrieved via FRED (2025)
Default & Legal — domain score 68 · Rank 786 of 3,144
Debt in collections Share of residents with a credit file who have debt in collections 26% 24% 23% 60th Urban Institute Debt in America (2025)
Bankruptcy filing rate Personal bankruptcy filings per 100,000 residents 210 187 126 77th Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, F-5A (2025)
Debt Burden (housing basis) — domain score 43 · Rank 1,870 of 3,144
Rent-to-income ratio Fair Market Rent (2BR) as share of median household income 20% 19% 21% 45th U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents (FY2027); U.S. Census Bureau, SAIPE (2024)
Severe rent burden (50%+) Share of renter households paying 50%+ of income on rent 17% 19% 18% 41st U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2024)
Labor — domain score 44 · Rank 1,870 of 3,144
Adults 25-54 not working Share of adults aged 25 to 54 without a job, leaving out residents of prisons and other institutions (service members count as working) 17% 20% 21% 28th U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2024)
Unemployment (average of monthly rates) Share of labor force unemployed, averaged over the monthly rates published for September 2025 to August 2026 (no figures published for October 2025) 4% 4% 4% 59th U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS (monthly rates averaged, September 2025 to August 2026; no figures published for October 2025)
Safety Net & Buffer — domain score 46 · Rank 1,733 of 3,144
Child poverty rate Share of children under 18 below the federal poverty line 16% 16% 17% 44th U.S. Census Bureau, SAIPE (2024)
Disability rate Share of residents reporting a disability 16% 16% 16% 50th U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2024)
Poverty rate Share of population below the federal poverty line 11% 12% 13% 32nd U.S. Census Bureau, SAIPE (2024)
Uninsured rate Share of residents without health insurance coverage 6% 6% 8% 33rd U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year (2024)
Compiled September 30, 2026 from Urban Institute Debt in America (2025 panel), U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-yr 2024, SAIPE 2024, Business Formation Statistics 2025), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (LAUS August 2026, QCEW 2025), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (F-5A bankruptcy filings 2025), and HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2027).

Five-Domain Breakdown

The CDI is an equal-weight composite of five family-v1 distress domains. Each domain contributes 20% of the county score.

Default & Legal Primary driver 68
Weight 20% · Rank 786 of 3,144
Delinquency 66
Weight 20% · Rank 996 of 3,144
Safety Net & Buffer 46
Weight 20% · Rank 1,733 of 3,144
Labor 44
Weight 20% · Rank 1,870 of 3,144
Debt Burden (housing basis) 43
Weight 20% · Rank 1,870 of 3,144

Methodology

The County Distress Index scores household financial distress from 0 to 100 for all 3,144 U.S. counties. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than. The index is built from five equal-weighted domains: Delinquency, Default & Legal, Debt Burden, Labor, and Safety Net & Buffer. Each domain is the mean of distress-oriented indicator percentiles; the five domains are averaged, and that average is ranked against every other county to give the score.

Data sources include the Urban Institute Debt in America (Equifax consumer credit panel), Equifax data retrieved via FRED (subprime credit share), U.S. Census Bureau (American Community Survey 5-year, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (F-5A bankruptcy filings), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents. Data vintages range from 2024 to 2027 depending on source; full indicator-level vintage detail is in the methodology document.

For Press & Research

Everything you need to cite Crawford County data.

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Press contact: Ross Kilburn · press@americandefault.org · (307) 264-2992 · media inquiries welcome
Draft wire copy 125-word AP-style article — use freely with attribution
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BUCYRUS, Ohio — Crawford County is more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties, according to the County Distress Index released this month by American Default Research.

Crawford scores 55 out of 100, which means it is more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties; its score label is moderate county distress. Within Ohio, Crawford ranks 36th of 88 counties.

The index, which draws on 14 source indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Urban Institute and federal court filings, identifies default & legal as the primary driver in Crawford. A bankruptcy filing rate of 210 — above the national median of 126.

American Default Research founder Ross Kilburn is available for interview at press@americandefault.org.

Full methodology and county-by-county data are available at americandefault.org/methodology/cdi.

— 30 —

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Crawford County's CDI score, and what does it mean?

Crawford County scores 55 out of 100 on the County Distress Index, which means it is more distressed than 55% of U.S. counties. Its score label is moderate county distress. It ranks 36th of 88 Ohio counties. Higher county scores indicate more distress.

What drives Crawford County's distress score?

The highest-scoring domain is Default & Legal, at a domain score of 68. Bankruptcy filing rate ranks at the 77th percentile nationally.

How does Crawford County compare to its neighbors?

Crawford County's neighbors span 4 CDI score labels. Highest-distress neighbor: Marion County (73.00, high county distress). Lowest: Wyandot County (17.00, very low county distress).

How is the County Distress Index calculated?

The CDI averages 14 source indicators across five equal-weighted domains: Delinquency, Default & Legal, Debt Burden, Labor, and Safety Net & Buffer, then ranks that average against every other county, so the score is the share of U.S. counties a county is more distressed than. Data comes from Urban Institute, Census Bureau, BLS, U.S. Courts, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and related public sources. Full methodology →
Ross Kilburn
Written by

Ross Kilburn, Founder

Founder · American Default Research · Seattle, Washington

Ross Kilburn is the former COO of Ark Law Group, a foreclosure defense firm serving five states. He founded Seattle Short Sales, wrote Short Sale Your Home, and worked as a mortgage loan originator and real estate agent. He founded American Default Research in 2026.

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from Ross →