States with the Most Collection Accounts – WalletHub Study

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

115050
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.

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