One in four Idaho families experienced severe economic distress in 2010, putting Idaho near the top of the states for those feeling economic pain, according to a Yale University study.

The report, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, said nearly one in four Idahoans experienced at least a 25 percent drop in their annual household income in 2010 after paying for medical care and debt. The report said the decline affected an estimated 262,000 Idahoans.

Idaho's increased economic insecurity may be tied to its high concentration of people known nationwide to have greater exposure to economic risk, the report said. Those people may include Idahoans without college educations and single parents.

Idaho ranked ninth worst in the country in its average economic insecurity between 2008 and 2010. Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia had the highest economic insecurity in 2010, according to the report. New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Washington, and Minnesota had the greatest security.