Financial Stress · Massachusetts

Massachusetts — financial stress by county

The Financial Stress Index (FSI) combines renter cost burden, eviction rate, and debt in collections into a 0–100 score. 14 of 14 Massachusetts counties have all three inputs and receive a score. The state average FSI across reporting counties is 59.0. Bristol, MA has the highest score at 72.

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 · Massachusetts

How does Massachusetts compare nationally?

Among states with reliable FSI coverage (≥60% of counties scored), Massachusetts ranks #8 of 36 states. The state average FSI of 59.0 is 12% above the national average FSI of 52.6.

Massachusetts ranks #2 of 6 in the Northeast by average FSI score.

Top 10 — Most Stressed Counties

Counties in Massachusetts ranked by FSI score

CountyFSI
1 Bristol, MA 72
2 Hampden, MA 71
3 Berkshire, MA 67
4 Plymouth, MA 67
5 Essex, MA 65
6 Nantucket, MA 64
7 Barnstable, MA 62
8 Suffolk, MA 60
9 Worcester, MA 59
10 Franklin, MA 54
Source  ·  US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2024 (2020–2024) · Princeton Eviction Lab (through 2018) · Urban Institute Debt in America (2024)  ·  Full FSI methodology →

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Financial stress — compare with other states

Click any state for county-level data and rankings.