Financial Stress · Kentucky
Kentucky — financial stress by county
The Financial Stress Index (FSI) combines renter cost burden, eviction rate, and debt in collections into a 0–100 score. 91 of 120 Kentucky counties have all three inputs and receive a score. The state average FSI across reporting counties is 51.2. Clay, KY has the highest score at 80.
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 · Kentucky
How does Kentucky compare nationally?
Among states with reliable FSI coverage (≥60% of counties scored), Kentucky ranks #20 of 36 states. The state average FSI of 51.2 is 3% below the national average FSI of 52.6.
Among Southeast states, Kentucky has the lowest financial stress score; the next-lowest are Alabama (55.9) and Oklahoma (55.1).
Top 10 — Most Stressed Counties
Counties in Kentucky ranked by FSI score
Related data
Financial stress — compare with other states
Click any state for county-level data and rankings.