placestats

US Counties With the Highest Material Security Scores

3,108 US counties ranked by material security score, from highest to lowest. First are Morgan County, UT (1.83), Los Alamos County, NM (1.82) and Kalawao County, HI (1.71). The middle one of the 3,108 has 0.252.

What this measures

Poverty, child poverty, income inequality, and four basic-needs measures from CDC PLACES: food, housing, utilities and transport. It is flipped so higher means less hardship, which is why it is named for security, not for what it counts. Source: .

A standard deviation is a typical gap between places.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

RankCountystandard deviations
1Morgan County, UT1.83
2Los Alamos County, NM1.82
3Kalawao County, HI1.71
4Douglas County, CO1.69
5Loudoun County, VA1.64
6Forsyth County, GA1.56
7Poquoson city, VA1.56
8Wright County, MN1.53
9Broomfield County, CO1.51
10Falls Church city, VA1.51
11Carver County, MN1.5
12Monroe County, IL1.49
13Sarpy County, NE1.48
14Kendall County, IL1.48
15Beaver County, UT1.47
16Powhatan County, VA1.46
17Crook County, WY1.46
18Delaware County, OH1.46
19Warren County, IA1.45
20Grundy County, IA1.44
21St. Croix County, WI1.44
22Calumet County, WI1.43
23Washington County, WI1.43
24Davis County, UT1.43
25Calvert County, MD1.42
26Rockwall County, TX1.41
27Seward County, NE1.41
28Hamilton County, IN1.41
29New Kent County, VA1.4
30Chisago County, MN1.4
31Lincoln County, WY1.4
32Scott County, MN1.39
33Hendricks County, IN1.38
34St. Charles County, MO1.38
35Sherburne County, MN1.38
36Livingston County, MI1.37
37Renville County, ND1.37
38Elbert County, CO1.37
39Hunterdon County, NJ1.36
40Carroll County, MD1.36
41Hancock County, IN1.36
42Stafford County, VA1.36
43Washington County, MN1.36
44Rockingham County, NH1.36
45Waukesha County, WI1.36
46Union County, OH1.35
47Saunders County, NE1.35
48Spencer County, KY1.35
49Madison County, IA1.35
50Hamilton County, NE1.34
51York County, VA1.33
52Howard County, MD1.33
53Dodge County, MN1.33
54Cass County, NE1.32
55Hamlin County, SD1.32
56Hanover County, VA1.32
57Lincoln County, SD1.31
58Armstrong County, TX1.31
59Camden County, NC1.31
60Dallas County, IA1.3
61Polk County, NE1.3
62Dakota County, MN1.3
63Washington County, NE1.3
64Johnson County, KS1.29
65Williamson County, TX1.29
66Tooele County, UT1.29
67Uinta County, WY1.29
68Rich County, UT1.29
69King George County, VA1.29
70Chugach Census Area, AK1.29
71Hanson County, SD1.28
72Ozaukee County, WI1.28
73Sussex County, NJ1.28
74Frederick County, MD1.27
75McCook County, SD1.26
76Dallam County, TX1.26
77Fairfax County, VA1.25
78Lyon County, IA1.25
79Boone County, KY1.25
80Morris County, NJ1.25
81Fauquier County, VA1.24
82Oldham County, KY1.24
83Meade County, SD1.24
84Rio Blanco County, CO1.23
85Mercer County, OH1.23
86Anoka County, MN1.23
87Bowman County, ND1.23
88Cedar County, IA1.23
89Pottawatomie County, KS1.22
90Putnam County, OH1.22
91Botetourt County, VA1.22
92Benton County, IA1.22
93Ellis County, TX1.22
94Deuel County, SD1.22
95Warren County, OH1.21
96Piatt County, IL1.21
97Sioux County, IA1.21
98Le Sueur County, MN1.2
99Miami County, KS1.2
100Jefferson County, KS1.2

Every state, highest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

RankStatestandard deviations
1New Hampshire1.36
2Hawaii1.14
3Vermont1.07
4Minnesota0.969
5Utah0.93
6North Dakota0.928
7Iowa0.914
8Wisconsin0.826
9Nebraska0.805
10Massachusetts0.747
11Maryland0.743
12Alaska0.65
13Virginia0.601
14Washington0.598
15Maine0.594
16Delaware0.586
17Rhode Island0.571
18Idaho0.546
19Colorado0.467
20South Dakota0.402
21Connecticut0.378
22Montana0.364
23Kansas0.338
24Wyoming0.322
25New Jersey0.318
26Indiana0.308
27Oregon0.298
28Pennsylvania0.253
29Michigan0.229
30Illinois0.193
31Ohio0.159
32Missouri0.077
33California0.0683
34North Carolina-0.0258
35Arizona-0.0792
36District of Columbia-0.281
37New York-0.294
38Nevada-0.456
39Florida-0.462
40South Carolina-0.529
41Kentucky-0.558
42New Mexico-0.602
43Oklahoma-0.647
44West Virginia-0.691
45Tennessee-0.718
46Georgia-0.754
47Alabama-0.811
48Arkansas-0.851
49Louisiana-1.02
50Texas-1.03
51Mississippi-1.25

More on material security score

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.