Denton County, Texas
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Denton County is the DFW metro's fast-growing northern edge. Poverty is 6.1%. Child poverty is 5.9%, the lowest in this batch. Median household income runs at 1.8 times the Texas figure. By the standard measures of affluence, this is a wealthy suburban county that should score well below the national average for distress. The medical debt percentile tells a different story. At the 73rd percentile nationally, it's the highest medical debt reading in this group of ten. The uninsured rate is 10.8%. Those two numbers connected is the Texas pattern. High income, no state income tax, but gaps in the safety net that turn a medical event into a balance sheet event. The overall debt score of 54.5 is substantially higher than you'd expect from a county this wealthy. Bankruptcy filings run at 165 per 100,000 residents. Something in the financial architecture is generating debt faster than the income should allow. Next door, Dallas County scores 60.3 (Elevated). Tarrant hits 56.6. Every major neighbor scores higher than Denton's 43.5 Normal reading. The county ranks 221st of 254 Texas counties. The growth and the income provide a real buffer. But the medical debt signal suggests the buffer has limits that standard income metrics don't capture.
The Numbers Behind the Score
The CDI measures five statistically derived factors of household financial distress, PCA-weighted. Denton County's primary driver is Housing Cost Burden at 83.3 — worse than roughly 83% of U.S. counties.
Scores are percentile-based: 50 = national median, higher = more distressed.
Neighbors and Peers
Neighboring Counties
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Denton County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denton County, TX | 56.5 | Elevated | — |
| Dallas County, TX | 73.7 | Serious | +17.2 |
| Tarrant County, TX | 72.6 | Serious | +16.1 |
| Grayson County, TX | 68.6 | Serious | +12.2 |
| Cooke County, TX | 60.6 | Elevated | +4.2 |
| Wise County, TX | 54.0 | Elevated | -2.5 |
| Collin County, TX | 48.5 | Normal | -8.0 |
Population Peers
| County | Score | Zone | vs. Denton County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queens County, NY | 55.8 | Elevated | -0.6 |
| Sacramento County, CA | 55.8 | Elevated | -0.6 |
| Mecklenburg County, NC | 57.6 | Elevated | +1.1 |
| Cook County, IL | 57.7 | Elevated | +1.2 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 58.3 | Elevated | +1.8 |
Download Data
Export all distress indicators for Denton County as a CSV file.
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