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A collection account is a debt that has gone unpaid for such a long period of time that the original creditor has decided to sell it to a debt collection agency, giving them the right to collect it instead. Having a collection account on your credit report is very bad for your credit score (especially since your score will already be heavily damaged by your previous lack of payments), and it will stay on your credit report for seven years.
To identify the states where people have the most collection accounts, and thus where people’s credit scores and financial future are most in jeopardy, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on four key metrics, including the average number of collection accounts and the average balance, as well as the change in those values between Q2 2024 and Q3 2024.
Main Findings
State | Rank |
---|---|
Wyoming | 1 |
Montana | 2 |
Nevada | 3 |
Delaware | 4 |
South Carolina | 5 |
North Dakota | 6 |
Alaska | 7 |
Texas | 8 |
Georgia | 9 |
Vermont | 10 |
Kansas | 11 |
Nebraska | 12 |
Idaho | 13 |
Alabama | 14 |
Kentucky | 15 |
Oklahoma | 16 |
Wisconsin | 17 |
Tennessee | 18 |
Virginia | 19 |
Utah | 20 |
Ohio | 21 |
Missouri | 22 |
Maine | 23 |
Louisiana | 24 |
Indiana | 25 |
Pennsylvania | 26 |
Iowa | 27 |
Arizona | 28 |
Florida | 29 |
South Dakota | 30 |
Arkansas | 31 |
New Hampshire | 32 |
New Mexico | 33 |
West Virginia | 34 |
California | 35 |
Connecticut | 36 |
Washington | 37 |
Minnesota | 38 |
Rhode Island | 39 |
New Jersey | 40 |
Michigan | 41 |
Maryland | 42 |
Illinois | 43 |
Oregon | 44 |
Colorado | 45 |
Massachusetts | 46 |
New York | 47 |
Hawaii | 48 |
North Carolina | 49 |
Mississippi | 50 |
States With the Most and Fewest Collection Accounts
Overall Rank* | State | Total Score | Collection Accounts Status Rank | Change in Average Collection Accounts Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wyoming | 89.37 | 1 | 3 |
2 | Montana | 80.19 | 3 | 6 |
3 | Nevada | 77.83 | 2 | 17 |
4 | Delaware | 73.00 | 4 | 30 |
5 | South Carolina | 71.54 | 6 | 7 |
6 | North Dakota | 70.20 | 8 | 4 |
7 | Alaska | 69.72 | 16 | 2 |
8 | Texas | 69.68 | 5 | 27 |
9 | Georgia | 69.12 | 7 | 16 |
10 | Vermont | 68.39 | 12 | 8 |
11 | Kansas | 66.62 | 9 | 20 |
12 | Nebraska | 66.25 | 11 | 19 |
13 | Idaho | 64.96 | 10 | 32 |
14 | Alabama | 63.66 | 15 | 21 |
15 | Kentucky | 63.28 | 18 | 9 |
16 | Oklahoma | 63.15 | 13 | 35 |
17 | Wisconsin | 62.42 | 14 | 41 |
18 | Tennessee | 60.37 | 20 | 14 |
19 | Virginia | 60.16 | 26 | 1 |
20 | Utah | 59.79 | 19 | 18 |
21 | Ohio | 57.75 | 22 | 15 |
22 | Missouri | 57.47 | 17 | 49 |
23 | Maine | 56.22 | 21 | 40 |
24 | Louisiana | 55.27 | 23 | 23 |
25 | Indiana | 51.98 | 28 | 22 |
26 | Pennsylvania | 51.93 | 27 | 24 |
27 | Iowa | 51.93 | 24 | 48 |
28 | Arizona | 51.91 | 25 | 43 |
29 | Florida | 48.45 | 29 | 34 |
30 | South Dakota | 47.12 | 34 | 12 |
31 | Arkansas | 46.33 | 30 | 37 |
32 | New Hampshire | 45.70 | 31 | 38 |
33 | New Mexico | 45.46 | 37 | 10 |
34 | West Virginia | 44.22 | 38 | 13 |
35 | California | 44.10 | 35 | 29 |
36 | Connecticut | 44.03 | 33 | 39 |
37 | Washington | 43.19 | 32 | 44 |
38 | Minnesota | 42.32 | 36 | 36 |
39 | Rhode Island | 41.71 | 39 | 26 |
40 | New Jersey | 38.37 | 41 | 33 |
41 | Michigan | 36.52 | 42 | 42 |
42 | Maryland | 36.51 | 40 | 50 |
43 | Illinois | 34.43 | 44 | 28 |
44 | Oregon | 33.92 | 43 | 47 |
45 | Colorado | 30.03 | 45 | 46 |
46 | Massachusetts | 27.58 | 47 | 11 |
47 | New York | 25.43 | 46 | 31 |
48 | Hawaii | 24.97 | 49 | 25 |
49 | North Carolina | 22.67 | 48 | 45 |
50 | Mississippi | 18.35 | 50 | 5 |
Notes: *No. 1 = Most Collection Accounts
With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each state, where a rank of 1 represents the worst conditions for that category.