Washington County Distress Index
Financial distress scores for all 39 counties in Washington, scored 0–100 across five domains. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than; the average Washington county scores 43.2. 1 county scores 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
Washington Snapshot
Washington County Map
Loading interactive map…
All 39 Washington 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 Washington's 39 county scores are distributed across the 0–100 scale.
All Washington Counties
39 counties ranked by distress score. Click column headers to sort.
| State Rank | Nat'l Rank | County | Score | Score Label | Primary Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Grays Harbor County | 76 | high county distress | Labor |
| 2 | — | Yakima County | 69 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 3 | — | Adams County | 68 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 4 | — | Grant County | 63 | moderate-high county distress | Labor |
| 5 | — | Okanogan County | 59 | moderate county distress | Safety Net & Buffer |
| 6 | — | Lewis County | 56 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 7 | — | Pierce County | 53 | moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 8 | — | Mason County | 52 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 9 | — | Cowlitz County | 50 | moderate county distress | Labor |
| 10 | — | Columbia County | 48 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 11 | — | Franklin County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 12 | — | Pacific County | 47 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 13 | — | Garfield County | 46 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 14 | — | Klickitat County | 45 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 15 | — | Kittitas County | 44 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 16 | — | Clallam County | 43 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 17 | — | Asotin County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 18 | — | Thurston County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 19 | — | Pend Oreille County | 42 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 20 | — | Ferry County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 21 | — | Stevens County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Labor |
| 22 | — | Spokane County | 41 | moderate-low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 23 | — | Benton County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 24 | — | Walla Walla County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 25 | — | Lincoln County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 26 | — | Wahkiakum County | 39 | low-moderate county distress | Labor |
| 27 | — | Clark County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 28 | — | Whitman County | 38 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 29 | — | Snohomish County | 37 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 30 | — | Douglas County | 36 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 31 | — | Whatcom County | 35 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 32 | — | Skagit County | 34 | low-moderate county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 33 | — | Jefferson County | 29 | low county distress | Labor |
| 34 | — | Island County | 29 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 35 | — | Skamania County | 27 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 36 | — | Kitsap County | 27 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 37 | — | King County | 23 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 38 | — | San Juan County | 21 | low county distress | Debt Burden (housing basis) |
| 39 | — | Chelan County | 20 | 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.