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States with the Most People in Financial Distress – WalletHub Study

July 17, 2024

The last few years have been a whirlwind for Americans’ finances, with inflation, fluctuating unemployment, public health crises and natural disasters making it hard for people across the country to pay their bills. Ultimately, many people have ended up in financial distress, which WalletHub defines as having a credit account that is in forbearance or has its payments deferred, meaning the account holder is temporarily allowed to not make payments due to financial difficulty.

In order to shed light on the financial troubles experienced by people across the U.S., and to show where those difficulties are most pronounced, WalletHub compared the 50 states across nine key metrics. Our data set includes factors like the average credit score, the change in the number of bankruptcy filings between March 2023 and March 2024, and the share of people with accounts in distress.

Overall Rank*  State Total Score  Credit Score Rank  People with Accounts in Distress Rank  Average Number of Accounts in Distress Rank  Change in Bankruptcy Filings March 2024 vs. March 2023 Rank  “Debt” Search Interest Index Rank  “Loans” Search Interest Index Rank 
1 Michigan 59.91 44 2 1 39 10 26
2 Texas 56.15 4 10 11 7 6 7
3 Nevada 55.15 5 5 8 3 29 11
4 Tennessee 52.25 36 3 3 45 15 7
5 Rhode Island 51.47 9 1 2 48 40 22
6 Georgia 51.31 7 9 10 27 4 6
7 Louisiana 50.47 20 4 5 30 45 3
8 North Carolina 49.66 16 15 14 11 4 15
9 Mississippi 49.33 11 16 18 46 21 1
10 New York 49.25 10 29 34 13 1 9
11 South Carolina 47.44 40 8 13 22 21 5
12 Oklahoma 44.85 35 18 20 31 32 2
13 Florida 44.64 3 13 15 9 29 27
14 Kentucky 44.46 39 6 9 21 26 13
15 South Dakota 43.19 42 28 26 8 6 17
16 Delaware 43.15 17 23 28 14 13 13
17 Alabama 42.24 25 7 12 44 37 4
18 Arizona 42.16 6 27 31 40 3 15
19 West Virginia 42.12 43 14 6 32 21 27
20 Illinois 41.78 34 11 7 36 21 31
21 Missouri 41.45 24 19 19 43 15 9
22 Maryland 40.60 15 41 45 6 15 34
23 North Dakota 39.71 49 48 36 16 2 22
24 Washington 39.22 18 24 17 2 42 36
25 Idaho 38.88 31 39 35 26 10 20
26 California 38.67 8 22 22 4 32 47
27 Ohio 38.17 47 45 46 25 10 12
28 Indiana 37.61 30 21 24 35 15 22
29 Minnesota 36.00 46 35 30 5 29 43
30 Colorado 35.90 23 42 43 18 13 40
31 Arkansas 35.49 50 12 16 28 32 31
32 New Jersey 35.48 27 34 37 23 15 36
33 Virginia 35.22 21 37 41 34 15 27
34 Alaska 35.18 1 46 48 47 6 20
35 Utah 34.90 12 36 25 12 32 39
36 Montana 33.74 45 32 27 20 26 34
37 New Mexico 32.82 33 25 39 15 46 17
38 Pennsylvania 32.53 22 43 42 33 26 36
39 Hawaii 32.25 2 20 23 10 46 49
40 Massachusetts 32.11 13 44 44 19 37 31
41 Wyoming 31.96 28 30 40 50 6 17
42 Oregon 31.93 19 33 32 1 50 44
43 Kansas 31.21 26 31 21 42 37 22
44 Maine 29.91 32 17 4 49 49 40
45 Nebraska 29.63 37 47 47 37 21 40
46 Wisconsin 27.11 48 40 33 38 42 27
47 Vermont 26.87 41 26 29 29 40 48
48 Connecticut 25.67 14 38 38 24 46 50
49 Iowa 23.83 29 50 49 17 42 46
50 New Hampshire 21.71 38 49 50 41 32 44

Note: *No. 1 = Most Distressed

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