Prairie State Wire

Greene, Kendall, Marshall, Menard, Monroe and Piatt counties posted the highest average household debt-to-income ratios in Illinois during the first quarter of 2020, the Federal Reserve System reported recently.

The ratio for those six counties was 3.46, according to the Fed. Those Illinois counties with the lowest debt-to-income ratio – 0.78 -- were Brown, Clay, Crawford, Jackson and Sangamon.

Those numbers compare with a cumulative 2019 statewide ratio of 1.18, the Fed’s data show. 

The Fed sees such county household debt-to-income ratios as key to explaining the sluggish economic recovery in many regions in the wake of the Great Recession more than a decade ago. Counties with high household debt relative to income endured drops in consumer spending and employment as the recession unfolded, the Fed reported.

In the Fed data, household debt numbers come from both Equifax and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Consumer Credit Panel. The estimates of household income come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Q1 2020 Debt-to-Income Ratios for Illinois Counties

County	Debt-to-Income Ratio Low	Debt-to-Income Ratio High
Adams	0.78	1.01
Alexander	1.01	1.19
Bond	1.37	1.58
Boone	2.16	2.63
Brown	--	0.78
Bureau	1.01	1.19
Calhoun	2.63	3.46
Carroll	1.58	1.82
Cass	1.58	1.82
Champaign	0.78	1.01
Christian	1.37	1.58
Clark	1.82	2.16
Clay	--	0.78
Clinton	1.82	2.16
Coles	--	0.78
Cook	0.78	1.01
Crawford	--	0.78
Cumberland	1.82	2.16
DeKalb	1.82	2.16
De Witt	0.78	1.01
Douglas	0.78	1.01
DuPage	1.01	1.19
Edgar	0.78	1.01
Edwards	1.19	1.37
Effingham	0.78	1.01
Fayette	1.82	2.16
Ford	1.37	1.58
Franklin	1.82	2.16
Fulton	1.82	2.16
Gallatin	1.19	1.37
Greene	3.46	--
Grundy	1.37	1.58
Hamilton	1.01	1.19
Hancock	2.63	3.46
Hardin	2.63	3.46
Henderson	3.46	--
Henry	2.16	2.63
Iroquois	2.16	2.63
Jackson	--	0.78
Jasper	2.16	2.63
Jefferson	--	0.78
Jersey	2.63	3.46
Jo Daviess	2.63	3.46
Johnson	2.16	2.63
Kane	1.82	2.16
Kankakee	1.19	1.37
Kendall	3.46	--
Knox	1.37	1.58
Lake	1.01	1.19
LaSalle	1.01	1.19
Lawrence	1.58	1.82
Lee	1.01	1.19
Livingston	0.78	1.01
Logan	1.19	1.37
McDonough	1.01	1.19
McHenry	2.63	3.46
McLean	0.78	1.01
Macon	0.78	1.01
Macoupin	1.82	2.16
Madison	1.58	1.82
Marion	1.19	1.37
Marshall	3.46	--
Mason	2.16	2.63
Massac	1.01	1.19
Menard	3.46	--
Mercer	2.63	3.46
Monroe	3.46	--
Montgomery	2.16	2.63
Morgan	0.78	1.01
Moultrie	1.01	1.19
Ogle	2.16	2.63
Peoria	--	0.78
Perry	1.37	1.58
Piatt	3.46	--
Pike	2.16	2.63
Pope	2.63	3.46
Pulaski	1.37	1.58
Putnam	2.16	2.63
Randolph	1.19	1.37
Richland	1.19	1.37
Rock Island	0.78	1.01
St. Clair	1.58	1.82
Saline	0.78	1.01
Sangamon	--	0.78
Schuyler	2.16	2.63
Scott	2.63	3.46
Shelby	1.82	2.16
Stark	1.01	1.19
Stephenson	0.78	1.01
Tazewell	1.82	2.16
Union	1.37	1.58
Vermilion	0.78	1.01
Wabash	1.37	1.58
Warren	1.01	1.19
Washington	0.78	1.01
Wayne	1.82	2.16
White	1.37	1.58
Whiteside	1.58	1.82
Will	2.16	2.63
Williamson	1.01	1.19
Winnebago	0.78	1.01
Woodford	2.16	2.63

Source: Federal Reserve System