Originally published Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 4:00 AM

20 most stressed, 20 least stressed counties

Here are the 20 most economically stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 and their July 2010 Stress scores, according to The Associated Press Economic Stress Index:

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press

Here are the 20 most economically stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 and their July 2010 Stress scores, according to The Associated Press Economic Stress Index:

1. Imperial County, Calif., 34.28

2. Yuma County, Ariz., 30.6

3. Lyon County, Nev., 26.89

4. Nye County, Nev., 25.66

5. Merced County, Calif., 25

6. Yuba County, Calif., 24.86

7. Clark County, Nev., 23.62

8. Stanislaus County, Calif., 23.62

9. San Joaquin County, Calif., 23.54

10. Sutter County, Calif., 22.72

11. Hendry County, Fla., 22.22

12. Riverside County, Calif., 22.22

13. Lake County, Calif., 21.7

14. Santa Cruz County, Ariz., 21.53

15. Kern County, Calif., 21.27

16. San Bernardino, Calif., 21.16

17. Wayne County, Mich., 21.13

18. San Benito County, Calif., 20.94

19. Tulare County, Calif., 20.76

20. Madera County, Calif., 20.52

A list of the 20 least economically stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 and their July 2010 Stress scores, according to The Associated Press Economic Stress Index:

1. Ward County, N.D., 3.16

2. Burleigh County, N.D., 3.68

3. Brown County, S.D., 3.9

4. Buffalo County, Neb., 4.16

5. Ford County, Kan., 4.47

6. Codington County, S.D., 4.48

7. Ellis County, Kan., 4.51

8. Pennington County, S.D., 4.59

9. Cass County, N.D., 4.61

10. Morton County, N.D., 4.63

11. Brookings County, S.D., 4.64

12. Sioux County, Iowa, 4.71