Financial Stress · Delaware
Delaware — financial stress by county
The Financial Stress Index (FSI) combines renter cost burden, eviction rate, and debt in collections into a 0–100 score. 3 of 3 Delaware counties have all three inputs and receive a score. The state average FSI across reporting counties is 75.0. Kent, DE has the highest score at 82.
Data note: The eviction rate component draws from the Princeton Eviction Lab's last national county release (2018). Post-pandemic eviction trends are not reflected in these scores — counties with high pre-2020 eviction activity may score differently if updated data were available. Rent burden and debt figures use 2024 ACS and Urban Institute data.
National comparison · Delaware
How does Delaware compare nationally?
Among states with reliable FSI coverage (≥60% of counties scored), Delaware ranks #1 of 36 states — the most financially stressed state in the US. The state average FSI of 75.0 is 43% above the national average FSI of 52.6.
Within the Southeast, Delaware has the highest financial stress score; the next-most-stressed states are South Carolina (67.9) and Florida (66.9).
Top 10 — Most Stressed Counties
Counties in Delaware ranked by FSI score
Related data
Financial stress — compare with other states
Click any state for county-level data and rankings.