The most distressed counties in America
All 3,144 U.S. counties ranked by the County Distress Index — a 0 to 100 score built from five equal-weighted domains: delinquency, default and legal, debt burden, labor, and safety net and buffer. A county's score is the share of U.S. counties it is more distressed than.
| Rank | County | State | Score | Score Label | Population | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holmes County | MS | 100 | extreme county distress | 15,777 | Profile |
| 2 | Washington County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 41,946 | Profile |
| 3 | Dougherty County | GA | 99 | extreme county distress | 82,645 | Profile |
| 4 | Dallas County | AL | 99 | extreme county distress | 36,165 | Profile |
| 5 | Pemiscot County | MO | 99 | extreme county distress | 14,613 | Profile |
| 6 | Wilcox County | AL | 99 | extreme county distress | 9,944 | Profile |
| 7 | Gadsden County | FL | 99 | extreme county distress | 43,833 | Profile |
| 8 | Hancock County | GA | 99 | extreme county distress | 8,676 | Profile |
| 9 | Leflore County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 26,378 | Profile |
| 10 | Coahoma County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 20,077 | Profile |
| 11 | Noxubee County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 9,914 | Profile |
| 12 | Phillips County | AR | 99 | extreme county distress | 14,961 | Profile |
| 13 | East Carroll Parish | LA | 99 | extreme county distress | 6,829 | Profile |
| 14 | Petersburg city | VA | 99 | extreme county distress | 33,309 | Profile |
| 15 | Tunica County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 9,234 | Profile |
| 16 | Crittenden County | AR | 99 | extreme county distress | 47,139 | Profile |
| 17 | Concordia Parish | LA | 99 | extreme county distress | 17,688 | Profile |
| 18 | Knox County | KY | 99 | extreme county distress | 29,794 | Profile |
| 19 | Hopewell city | VA | 99 | extreme county distress | 22,752 | Profile |
| 20 | Bolivar County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 28,968 | Profile |
| 21 | Talbot County | GA | 99 | extreme county distress | 5,718 | Profile |
| 22 | Bibb County | GA | 99 | extreme county distress | 156,512 | Profile |
| 23 | St. Francis County | AR | 99 | extreme county distress | 22,101 | Profile |
| 24 | Greene County | AL | 99 | extreme county distress | 7,341 | Profile |
| 25 | McCreary County | KY | 99 | extreme county distress | 17,050 | Profile |
| 26 | Perry County | AL | 99 | extreme county distress | 7,738 | Profile |
| 27 | Williamsburg County | SC | 99 | extreme county distress | 29,891 | Profile |
| 28 | Madison Parish | LA | 99 | extreme county distress | 9,246 | Profile |
| 29 | Wilkinson County | MS | 99 | extreme county distress | 8,058 | Profile |
| 30 | Edgecombe County | NC | 99 | extreme county distress | 48,832 | Profile |
| 31 | St. John the Baptist Parish | LA | 99 | extreme county distress | 39,592 | Profile |
| 32 | Richmond County | GA | 99 | extreme county distress | 205,414 | Profile |
| 33 | Morehouse Parish | LA | 98 | extreme county distress | 23,955 | Profile |
| 34 | Terrell County | GA | 98 | extreme county distress | 8,718 | Profile |
| 35 | Magoffin County | KY | 98 | extreme county distress | 11,228 | Profile |
| 36 | Yazoo County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 25,796 | Profile |
| 37 | Hardeman County | TN | 98 | extreme county distress | 25,567 | Profile |
| 38 | Halifax County | NC | 98 | extreme county distress | 47,298 | Profile |
| 39 | Humphreys County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 7,216 | Profile |
| 40 | Franklin city | VA | 98 | extreme county distress | 8,339 | Profile |
| 41 | Clay County | KY | 98 | extreme county distress | 19,648 | Profile |
| 42 | Desha County | AR | 98 | extreme county distress | 10,479 | Profile |
| 43 | Pike County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 39,394 | Profile |
| 44 | Early County | GA | 98 | extreme county distress | 10,563 | Profile |
| 45 | Bronx County | NY | 98 | extreme county distress | 1,356,476 | Profile |
| 46 | Hamilton County | FL | 98 | extreme county distress | 13,471 | Profile |
| 47 | Bell County | KY | 98 | extreme county distress | 23,317 | Profile |
| 48 | Mississippi County | MO | 98 | extreme county distress | 11,822 | Profile |
| 49 | Clayton County | GA | 98 | extreme county distress | 298,300 | Profile |
| 50 | Wayne County | MI | 98 | extreme county distress | 1,751,169 | Profile |
| 51 | Russell County | AL | 98 | extreme county distress | 58,744 | Profile |
| 52 | Lauderdale County | TN | 98 | extreme county distress | 24,610 | Profile |
| 53 | Adams County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 28,746 | Profile |
| 54 | Lee County | AR | 98 | extreme county distress | 8,201 | Profile |
| 55 | Claiborne Parish | LA | 98 | extreme county distress | 13,670 | Profile |
| 56 | Hinds County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 214,870 | Profile |
| 57 | Claiborne County | MS | 98 | extreme county distress | 8,617 | Profile |
| 58 | Brooks County | GA | 98 | extreme county distress | 16,245 | Profile |
| 59 | Webster Parish | LA | 98 | extreme county distress | 35,238 | Profile |
| 60 | Mitchell County | GA | 98 | extreme county distress | 21,114 | Profile |
| 61 | Caddo Parish | LA | 98 | extreme county distress | 226,386 | Profile |
| 62 | Marlboro County | SC | 98 | extreme county distress | 25,704 | Profile |
| 63 | Danville city | VA | 98 | extreme county distress | 41,837 | Profile |
| 64 | Bamberg County | SC | 97 | extreme county distress | 12,974 | Profile |
| 65 | Quitman County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 5,546 | Profile |
| 66 | Jefferson County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 6,941 | Profile |
| 67 | Lake County | TN | 97 | extreme county distress | 6,347 | Profile |
| 68 | Twiggs County | GA | 97 | extreme county distress | 7,691 | Profile |
| 69 | Burke County | GA | 97 | extreme county distress | 24,438 | Profile |
| 70 | St. Bernard Parish | LA | 97 | extreme county distress | 44,463 | Profile |
| 71 | Natchitoches Parish | LA | 97 | extreme county distress | 36,291 | Profile |
| 72 | Conecuh County | AL | 97 | extreme county distress | 11,174 | Profile |
| 73 | Lowndes County | AL | 97 | extreme county distress | 9,717 | Profile |
| 74 | Marshall County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 34,123 | Profile |
| 75 | Harlan County | KY | 97 | extreme county distress | 25,324 | Profile |
| 76 | Tensas Parish | LA | 97 | extreme county distress | 3,764 | Profile |
| 77 | Macon County | AL | 97 | extreme county distress | 18,370 | Profile |
| 78 | Chicot County | AR | 97 | extreme county distress | 9,538 | Profile |
| 79 | Miller County | AR | 97 | extreme county distress | 42,415 | Profile |
| 80 | Floyd County | KY | 97 | extreme county distress | 34,423 | Profile |
| 81 | Mississippi County | AR | 97 | extreme county distress | 38,663 | Profile |
| 82 | Starr County | TX | 97 | extreme county distress | 65,934 | Profile |
| 83 | Sumter County | GA | 97 | extreme county distress | 28,890 | Profile |
| 84 | Darlington County | SC | 97 | extreme county distress | 62,416 | Profile |
| 85 | Baltimore city | MD | 97 | extreme county distress | 565,239 | Profile |
| 86 | Montgomery County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 9,600 | Profile |
| 87 | Randolph County | GA | 97 | extreme county distress | 6,078 | Profile |
| 88 | Emporia city | VA | 97 | extreme county distress | 5,463 | Profile |
| 89 | Robeson County | NC | 97 | extreme county distress | 117,365 | Profile |
| 90 | Sumter County | AL | 97 | extreme county distress | 11,727 | Profile |
| 91 | Copiah County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 27,664 | Profile |
| 92 | Seminole County | OK | 97 | extreme county distress | 23,565 | Profile |
| 93 | Avoyelles Parish | LA | 97 | extreme county distress | 38,408 | Profile |
| 94 | Panola County | MS | 97 | extreme county distress | 32,669 | Profile |
| 95 | Orleans Parish | LA | 97 | extreme county distress | 364,136 | Profile |
| 96 | Lee County | SC | 96 | extreme county distress | 15,967 | Profile |
| 97 | Worth County | GA | 96 | extreme county distress | 20,273 | Profile |
| 98 | Wilkinson County | GA | 96 | extreme county distress | 8,725 | Profile |
| 99 | Lee County | KY | 96 | extreme county distress | 7,293 | Profile |
| 100 | Hale County | AL | 96 | extreme county distress | 14,888 | Profile |
How the ranking is built
The County Distress Index scores all 3,144 U.S. counties on a 0 to 100 scale using five equal-weighted domains: delinquency, default and legal, debt burden, labor, and safety net and buffer. Each input is ranked against the current county cross-section, then averaged within its domain, then averaged across the five domains. That average is ranked once more against every county, so the score is the share of U.S. counties a county is more distressed than.
Source data: the Urban Institute Debt in America dataset, U.S. Census Bureau SAIPE and ACS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LAUS and QCEW, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts bankruptcy statistics, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents. Rank #1 is the most distressed county in the current cross-section. National ranks are shown for the 100 most and 100 least distressed counties; in between, ranks move between updates, so the score says where a county stands. Counties with identical composite scores share a rank, marked T- for tied. Score labels translate the 0 to 100 score into plain-language distress ranges, each covering about a tenth of counties.
For journalists and researchers
The ranking is free to cite and redistribute with attribution. Every county row links to a detailed county profile with domain breakdowns and source context. Download the full ranking as CSV or JSON, or ingest the machine-readable Dataset schema embedded in this page.
More distress rankings
Three more views of household distress, each from its own source. See the most distressed county in every state, bankruptcy filing rates by county from U.S. Courts data, and where the job market is strong and the bills go unpaid.
Frequently asked questions
Which county is the most distressed in America?
As of the most recent CDI release, Holmes County, Mississippi ranks first with a composite score of 100 on the 0 to 100 scale. The ranking is recomputed annually as new Census ACS and Urban Institute Debt in America data become available.
How often is the ranking updated?
The County Distress Index refreshes annually, aligned to the Census American Community Survey release window and the Urban Institute Debt in America update. The current release compiled on Sep 30, 2026. Individual indicator time series on the indicator pages update more frequently — monthly for employment, quarterly for NY Fed consumer credit data.
Why five equal-weighted domains?
The CDI method uses one yardstick across geographies: five domains with equal weight, each built from the percentile ranks of its member inputs. That keeps county ranks comparable without fitted weights or retired cutoffs. Full technical detail: /methodology/cdi/.
Can I download the full ranking?
Yes. Download every U.S. county ranked by the County Distress Index as CSV or JSON — free to use with attribution. A machine-readable Dataset schema is also embedded on this page for LLMs and research tools.
Is this the same as the American Distress Index?
No. The American Distress Index (ADI) tracks national household distress over time using quarterly time-series data. The CDI is cross-sectional — it compares counties at a single point in time. Both use a 0 to 100 scale, but the national ADI publishes time-axis bands while county pages publish ranks and score labels.