Pennsylvania County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 67 counties in Pennsylvania, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Pennsylvania county scores 40.6. 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
Pennsylvania Snapshot
67 Counties Scored
40.6 Mean Score
40.0 Median Score
92 Philadelphia County Most Distressed
3 Chester County Least Distressed
1 extreme county distress2 very high county distress1 high county distress5 moderate-high county distress12 moderate county distress13 moderate-low county distress15 low-moderate county distress6 low county distress10 very low county distress2 exceptionally low county distress
Score Label Distribution Pennsylvania County Map
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Low county distress Moderate-low county distress Moderate county distress High county distress Extreme county distress
All 67 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania's 67 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Pennsylvania Counties
67 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Philadelphia County | 92 | extreme county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 2 | — | Fayette County | 85 | very high county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Monroe County | 81 | very high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 4 | — | Luzerne County | 73 | high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 5 | — | Greene County | 66 | moderate-high county distress | Delinquency |
| 6 | — | Carbon County | 65 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 7 | — | Lackawanna County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | Pike County | 62 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 9 | — | Lehigh County | 60 | moderate-high county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 10 | — | Lawrence County | 59 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 11 | — | Dauphin County | 58 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 12 | — | Crawford County | 57 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 13 | — | McKean County | 56 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Berks County | 55 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 15 | — | Erie County | 54 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Mercer County | 53 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 17 | — | Lycoming County | 51 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 18 | — | Schuylkill County | 51 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 19 | — | Delaware County | 50 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 20 | — | Indiana County | 50 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 21 | — | Cambria County | 50 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 22 | — | Venango County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 23 | — | Cameron County | 49 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Wayne County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Northumberland County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 26 | — | Beaver County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 27 | — | Clearfield County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 28 | — | Clinton County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 29 | — | Columbia County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 30 | — | Northampton County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Susquehanna County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 32 | — | Blair County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Forest County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 34 | — | Potter County | 40 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 35 | — | Armstrong County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 36 | — | Bedford County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 37 | — | Bradford County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 38 | — | Lebanon County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Clarion County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 40 | — | Tioga County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 41 | — | Jefferson County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 42 | — | Allegheny County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 43 | — | Mifflin County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 44 | — | Franklin County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 45 | — | Westmoreland County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 46 | — | Wyoming County | 33 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 47 | — | Somerset County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 48 | — | Washington County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 49 | — | York County | 31 | low-moderate county distress | Default & Legal |
| 50 | — | Warren County | 29 | low county distress | Labor |
| 51 | — | Perry County | 29 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 52 | — | Huntingdon County | 27 | low county distress | Labor |
| 53 | — | Snyder County | 21 | low county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 54 | — | Juniata County | 21 | low county distress | Labor |
| 55 | — | Lancaster County | 20 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 56 | — | Centre County | 19 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 57 | — | Sullivan County | 19 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 58 | — | Elk County | 17 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 59 | — | Cumberland County | 17 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 60 | — | Fulton County | 16 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 61 | — | Adams County | 15 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 62 | — | Montour County | 13 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 63 | — | Bucks County | 12 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 64 | — | Union County | 11 | very low county distress | Labor |
| 65 | — | Montgomery County | 10 | very low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 66 | — | Butler County | 9 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 67 | — | Chester County | 3 | exceptionally low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
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 — 1 Pennsylvania county
very high county distress — 2 Pennsylvania counties
high county distress — 1 Pennsylvania county
moderate-high county distress — 5 Pennsylvania counties
moderate county distress — 12 Pennsylvania counties
moderate-low county distress — 13 Pennsylvania counties
low-moderate county distress — 15 Pennsylvania counties
low county distress — 6 Pennsylvania counties
very low county distress — 10 Pennsylvania counties
exceptionally low county distress — 2 Pennsylvania counties