Deeply underwater At least half of homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their homes are worth in 17 of 386 U.S. counties. Counties with the highest percentage of mortgages under water as of Sept. 30. Rank County State Mortgages under water 1 Clark Nev. 71.1% 2 Osceola Fla. 66.5% 3 Merced Calif. 63.1% 4 St Lucie Fla. 62.4% 5 San Joaquin Calif. 59.6% 6 Stanislaus Calif. 57.5% 7 Clayton Ga. 56.1% 8 Orange Fla. 56.1% 9 Solano Calif. 55.6% 10 Maricopa Ariz. 54.4% 11 Washoe Nev. 53.3% 12 Pinal Ariz. 52.6% 13 Flagler Fla. 52.5% 14 Pasco Fla. 51.5% 15 Riverside Calif. 50.5% 16 Kern Calif. 50.2% 17 Broward Fla. 50.1% 18 Lee Fla. 49.5% 19 Canyon Idaho 49.0% 20 Henry Ga. 48.8% 21 Polk Fla. 48.5% 22 Hillsborough Fla. 48.5% 23 Dade Fla. 48.2% 24 Sacramento Calif. 47.9% 25 Paulding Ga. 47.5% 26 Prince William Va. 47.4% 27 San Bernardino Calif. 46.9% 28 Brevard Fla. 46.9% 29 Wayne Mich. 46.6% 30 Hernando Fla. 46.5% Source: CoreLogic

In the black U.S. counties with the lowest percentage of homeowners whose mortgages were under water as of Sept. 30: Rank County State Mortgages under water 357 Shawnee Kan. 6.5% 358 Washington R.I. 6.5% 359 Buncombe N.C. 6.4% 360 Boulder Colo. 6.3% 361 Bucks Pa. 6.2% 362 Boone Ky. 6.1% 363 Tulsa Okla. 6.0% 364 Staten Island (Richmond) N.Y. 6.0% 365 Linn Iowa 5.9% 366 Hennepin Minn. 5.7% 367 Chester Pa. 5.7% 368 Montgomery Pa. 5.6% 369 Berkshire County Mass. 5.6% 370 El Paso Texas 5.5% 371 Nueces Texas 5.3% 372 Monroe N.Y. 5.2% 373 Hampshire County Mass. 5.2% 374 Sangamon Ill. 5.2% 375 Oklahoma Okla. 5.2% 376 Lancaster Pa. 5.0% 377 Yellowstone Mont. 5.0% 378 Allegheny Pa. 4.7% 379 Madison Ala. 4.7% 380 Benton Wash. 4.3% 381 Cleveland Okla. 4.2% 382 Cumberland N.C. 4.2% 383 Erie N.Y. 4.2% 384 Manhattan N.Y. 4.2% 385 Suffolk N.Y. 2.1% 386 Orange N.Y. 1.0% Source: CoreLogic