Think Bigger Today index

Financial Stress Score

FSS blends four signals into one 0–100 score for every U.S. county: unemployment (30%), income relative to the national average (35%), rent burden (25%) and the national credit-card delinquency rate (10%). Lower is healthier.

HealthySevere
23.5
Excellent
Average county stress score

2,483 counties scored across 52 states

Most stressed county

Comerío Municipio, PR

72.0 — high stress

Least stressed county

Hughes County, SD

7.0 — low stress

Most stressed state

Puerto Rico

Average county score 60.3

Counties scored

2,483

Every county with at least 10,000 residents

Highest pressure

Counties under the most financial stress

  1. 1
    Comerío MunicipioPR72.0
  2. 2
    Lajas MunicipioPR71.9
  3. 3
    Orocovis MunicipioPR69.8
  4. 4
    Mayagüez MunicipioPR69.2
  5. 5
    Florida MunicipioPR69.0
  6. 6
    Utuado MunicipioPR68.6
  7. 7
    Arroyo MunicipioPR68.4
  8. 8
    Barceloneta MunicipioPR68.4
  9. 9
    San Sebastián MunicipioPR67.7
  10. 10
    Guánica MunicipioPR67.4
  11. 11
    Ponce MunicipioPR67.1
  12. 12
    Lares MunicipioPR67.0
  13. 13
    Aguadilla MunicipioPR67.0
  14. 14
    Manatí MunicipioPR66.8
  15. 15
    Jayuya MunicipioPR66.2
  16. 16
    Yauco MunicipioPR66.2
  17. 17
    Yabucoa MunicipioPR66.0
  18. 18
    Naranjito MunicipioPR65.7
  19. 19
    Peñuelas MunicipioPR65.5
  20. 20
    Adjuntas MunicipioPR65.4
  21. 21
    Corozal MunicipioPR65.3
  22. 22
    Cataño MunicipioPR65.1
  23. 23
    Morovis MunicipioPR65.0
  24. 24
    Moca MunicipioPR64.7
  25. 25
    Patillas MunicipioPR64.4
Lowest pressure

Counties with the healthiest balance sheets

  1. 1
    Hughes CountySD7.0
  2. 2
    Mitchell CountyIA8.4
  3. 3
    Osage CountyMO8.6
  4. 4
    Gonzales CountyTX8.6
  5. 5
    Pope CountyMN8.6
  6. 6
    Trousdale CountyTN8.9
  7. 7
    Ramsey CountyND9.2
  8. 8
    Holt CountyNE9.5
  9. 9
    Boone CountyIA9.5
  10. 10
    Lincoln CountySD9.7
  11. 11
    Poquoson cityVA9.7
  12. 12
    Valley CountyID10.0
  13. 13
    Codington CountySD10.0
  14. 14
    Franklin CountyID10.0
  15. 15
    Yankton CountySD10.3
  16. 16
    Teton CountyID10.3
  17. 17
    Houston CountyMN10.3
  18. 18
    Lake CountySD10.3
  19. 19
    Morgan CountyUT10.6
  20. 20
    Colfax CountyNE10.6
  21. 21
    Nemaha CountyKS10.6
  22. 22
    Redwood CountyMN10.6
  23. 23
    Monroe CountyIL10.6
  24. 24
    McKenzie CountyND10.6
  25. 25
    Clay CountyTX10.9
By state

States ranked by average county stress

Averaged across every scored county in the state.

  1. 1
    Puerto Rico74 counties60.3
  2. 2
    Mississippi67 counties34.0
  3. 3
    Louisiana57 counties31.7
  4. 4
    West Virginia43 counties31.3
  5. 5
    Arizona14 counties31.1
  6. 6
    New Mexico25 counties30.8
  7. 7
    South Carolina44 counties29.6
  8. 8
    Arkansas62 counties29.5
  9. 9
    Alabama65 counties29.1
  10. 10
    Kentucky99 counties28.1
  11. 11
    California55 counties26.9
  12. 12
    District of Columbia1 counties26.6
  13. 13
    North Carolina96 counties26.4
  14. 14
    Florida65 counties25.7
  15. 15
    Tennessee87 counties25.6
  16. 16
    Alaska10 counties25.4
  17. 17
    Georgia123 counties25.2
  18. 18
    Oklahoma57 counties24.5
  19. 19
    Michigan75 counties24.4
  20. 20
    New Jersey21 counties23.9
  21. 21
    Oregon29 counties23.5
  22. 22
    Nevada9 counties23.2
  23. 23
    Missouri85 counties22.8
  24. 24
    Texas161 counties22.8
  25. 25
    Connecticut9 counties22.5
  26. 26
    Montana21 counties22.3
  27. 27
    Hawaii4 counties22.1
  28. 28
    New York61 counties22.1
  29. 29
    Virginia115 counties22.1
  30. 30
    Washington35 counties21.9
  31. 31
    Massachusetts14 counties21.6
  32. 32
    Illinois87 counties21.4
  33. 33
    Delaware3 counties21.3
  34. 34
    Pennsylvania64 counties21.3
  35. 35
    Rhode Island5 counties21.1
  36. 36
    Maine16 counties20.7
  37. 37
    Ohio88 counties20.7
  38. 38
    Maryland24 counties20.3
  39. 39
    Colorado37 counties20.1
  40. 40
    Indiana86 counties19.1
  41. 41
    Kansas39 counties18.6
  42. 42
    Idaho29 counties18.1
  43. 43
    Wyoming15 counties17.5
  44. 44
    Utah20 counties17.4
  45. 45
    South Dakota18 counties17.3
  46. 46
    Minnesota66 counties16.8
  47. 47
    Vermont12 counties16.8
  48. 48
    New Hampshire10 counties16.4
  49. 49
    Iowa74 counties16.2
  50. 50
    Wisconsin67 counties16.0
  51. 51
    North Dakota14 counties14.8
  52. 52
    Nebraska26 counties13.6

How FSS is built

Each county gets four sub-scores on a 0–100 scale: unemployment against the national county average, median income against the national county average, rent burden between 20% and 60% of income, and the national credit-card delinquency rate as a macro overlay.

The weighted sum is banded into four tiers — Low, Moderate, High and Very High — so a county can be compared with its neighbours and with the country as a whole.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (county income, rent, unemployment); Federal Reserve G.19 credit card delinquency rate via FRED (national macro context). Latest observation 2026-08-01.

Related: Mortgage Affordability Stress Index · True Cost of Living Index