Debt in Collections · Alabama
Alabama — debt in collections by county
Across the 67 counties in Alabama measured by the Urban Institute's Debt in America survey, 32.2% of adults have at least one account in collections. The county-level range is wide: Perry, AL sits at 46.0% while Shelby, AL is just 19.9% — a 2.3× spread within a single state.
The median dollar amount in collections for Alabama residents is $1,851 per affected adult, based on Urban Institute's 2024 release.
National comparison · Alabama
How does Alabama compare nationally?
Alabama ranks #5 of 50 states. At 32.2%, the state is 69 percentage points above the national average of 19.0%.
Alabama ranks #5 of 16 in the Southeast by debt-in-collections rate.
State averages — debt subtypes
What kinds of debt drive the Alabama total
The Urban Institute reports debt in collections in four categories. Across Alabama's 67 counties, the average rates are:
- Any debt in collections: 32.2% of adults
- Medical debt in collections: 6.6% — debt sent to collections for medical bills
- Credit card delinquency: 7.5% — 90+ days past due on at least one card
- Auto/retail loan delinquency: 8.8% — 60+ days past due on auto or retail credit
These figures are county averages weighted equally — the underlying Urban Institute sample uses credit-bureau records, which exclude adults who do not have a credit file. Rates can be substantially higher for credit-active adults than for the full adult population.
Top 10 — Highest Debt Counties
Counties in Alabama ranked by debt in collections
Bottom 5 — Lowest Debt Counties
Alabama's least indebted counties
Frequently asked — debt in Alabama
Common questions
What percentage of Alabama adults have debt in collections? +
32.2% of adults in Alabama have at least one account in collections, based on the Urban Institute's 2024 Debt in America survey. That figure is the average across the 67 Alabama counties measured. The county-level rate varies widely from 19.9% in Shelby, AL to 46.0% in Perry, AL.
Which Alabama county has the highest debt-in-collections rate? +
Perry, AL has the highest debt-in-collections rate in Alabama at 46.0%. The next four highest counties are Greene, AL (44.8%), Macon, AL (44.5%), Bullock, AL (44.0%), Wilcox, AL (42.3%). Rates are credit-bureau-derived and reflect the credit-active adult population only.
Which Alabama county has the lowest debt-in-collections rate? +
Shelby, AL has the lowest rate in Alabama at 19.9%. The lowest-debt counties in Alabama are Shelby, AL (19.9%), Baldwin, AL (19.9%), Limestone, AL (22.1%), Madison, AL (22.6%), Henry, AL (23.7%).
What is the median amount of debt in collections in Alabama? +
The median dollar amount in collections per affected Alabama adult is $1,851, averaged across the 67 measured counties. That figure represents the typical balance owed by individuals who have at least one account in collections — not the average across all adults.
How much of Alabama's debt in collections is medical debt? +
6.6% of Alabama adults have medical debt in collections, on average across measured counties. That figure follows the 2022 credit-bureau reporting change, which excludes medical debts under $500 from collection reports. Actual medical-debt exposure (including smaller balances and paid-down accounts) is materially higher.
Methodology & sources
How "debt in collections" is measured
The figures on this page are sourced from the Urban Institute Debt in America (2024) release. The Urban Institute calculates each county-level rate from a 2-percent random sample of credit-bureau records, then publishes the share of credit-active adults with at least one account that has been sent to a third-party collection agency or in-house collections unit.
"In collections" means a debt is 90+ days past due and has either been written off by the original creditor or assigned to a collection agency. The Urban Institute reports four breakdowns — overall, medical, credit-card delinquency, and auto/retail delinquency. Medical debt in collections is reported only when it exceeds $500 per the 2022 credit-bureau reporting change.
Coverage caveat: the survey excludes adults without a credit file, which means the published rates are for the credit-active population only. Rates for the full adult population (including those without credit) are typically lower in absolute terms but follow the same county-to-county ordering. Counties with fewer than 50 sampled adults are not published.
Data is free under the Urban Institute's open-data policy. Figures here are licensed under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to USInsights.
Related data
Debt in collections — compare with other states
Click any state for county-level data and rankings.