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WASHINGTON — Are you feeling financially stressed as 2024 comes to a close? You’re not alone, not even close. In fact, 7.8 million Americans have delayed payments on at least one of their credit accounts this year. That’s a million more than in 2023. Now, a new survey is shedding even more light on the nation’s financial troubles, including which states are feeling this wallet crunch the most.
The new WalletHub survey paints a troubling picture of economic instability, with a shocking 8.2% of Texans experiencing credit account distress, highlighting the unexpected vulnerability even in states with robust economies. Overall, researchers compared all 50 states across nine key metrics. That included factors like average credit scores in each state, the change in the number of bankruptcy filings between September 2023 and September 2024, and the share of people with accounts in financial distress.
“Millions of Americans are having trouble making payments on their debts, which can lead to unsustainable interest, fees, and credit score damage,” warns WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo in a statement.
The top three states in financial distress tell a compelling story of economic struggle:
- Texas, despite being the eighth-largest economy globally, sees 8.2% of residents with credit accounts in forbearance, accompanied by a 25.8% increase in non-business bankruptcy filings.
- Louisiana follows closely, with 11.6% of residents facing credit account distress and the third-lowest average credit score of 624.
- Nevada rounds out the top three, with 7.5% of adults experiencing credit account challenges and a 24.3% increase in bankruptcy filings.
As election season comes to a close, the WalletHub team also found a key clue into why American voters went Republican in 2024. According to the survey, so-called “Red States” were in significantly more financial distress than their “Blue State” counterparts. Based on the electoral map of the 2024 election, states voting for President-elect Donald Trump had a financial distress score that was over nine points higher than states voting for Kamala Harris.
However, economic issues aren’t just a red state problem. Over the last year, some blue states have fallen on seriously hard times as well. For example, Rhode Island fell from 48th on WalletHub’s financial distress list to 19th in 2024. Rhode Island saw the greatest changes in the share of people with accounts in distress and the average number of credit accounts in distress.
Meanwhile, Washington (32nd) and Minnesota (31st) finished with the largest changes in bankruptcy filings over the last year.
States with the Most People in Financial Distress
| Overall Rank* | State | Total Score | Credit Score Rank | People with Accounts in Distress Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 63.75 | 25 | 1 |
| 2 | Louisiana | 58.28 | 34 | 5 |
| 3 | Nevada | 57.26 | 8 | 6 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 55.01 | 7 | 2 |
| 5 | Florida | 53.23 | 13 | 15 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 51.50 | 31 | 4 |
| 7 | Mississippi | 50.72 | 21 | 7 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 50.50 | 28 | 10 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 49.17 | 12 | 13 |
| 10 | Arizona | 46.82 | 3 | 24 |
| 11 | Georgia | 45.44 | 1 | 16 |
| 12 | New York | 45.29 | 16 | 36 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 45.05 | 24 | 20 |
| 14 | Alabama | 44.31 | 26 | 9 |
| 15 | Michigan | 43.26 | 29 | 12 |
| 16 | Delaware | 43.26 | 6 | 23 |
| 17 | Colorado | 41.36 | 10 | 41 |
| 18 | Virginia | 41.36 | 32 | 32 |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 41.19 | 47 | 3 |
| 20 | California | 40.85 | 30 | 29 |
| 21 | Ohio | 40.75 | 38 | 34 |
| 22 | Missouri | 39.85 | 35 | 14 |
| 23 | South Dakota | 39.74 | 2 | 21 |
| 24 | Maryland | 39.44 | 4 | 30 |
| 25 | Utah | 39.21 | 43 | 38 |
| 26 | Kansas | 38.24 | 44 | 27 |
| 27 | Arkansas | 37.79 | 46 | 8 |
| 28 | Iowa | 37.71 | 39 | 19 |
| 29 | Massachusetts | 37.63 | 19 | 22 |
| 30 | Indiana | 37.25 | 17 | 28 |
| 31 | Minnesota | 37.10 | 36 | 25 |
| 32 | Washington | 37.05 | 15 | 40 |
| 33 | West Virginia | 36.76 | 27 | 17 |
| 34 | Illinois | 36.09 | 13 | 33 |
| 35 | New Mexico | 35.11 | 8 | 26 |
| 36 | Idaho | 34.91 | 41 | 42 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 34.80 | 22 | 35 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 34.07 | 23 | 18 |
| 39 | New Jersey | 33.58 | 11 | 31 |
| 40 | Connecticut | 31.95 | 18 | 43 |
| 41 | Maine | 31.05 | 20 | 11 |
| 42 | Montana | 30.22 | 40 | 44 |
| 43 | North Dakota | 29.24 | 50 | 48 |
| 44 | Oregon | 28.97 | 37 | 39 |
| 45 | Wisconsin | 28.82 | 49 | 37 |
| 46 | Vermont | 25.57 | 33 | 50 |
| 47 | New Hampshire | 23.02 | 42 | 47 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 21.78 | 45 | 49 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 21.09 | 48 | 45 |
| 50 | Alaska | 18.50 | 5 | 46 |
How can you get out of debt?
“The best strategies for getting current on your debt include strict budgeting that cuts your spending, transferring the balance to a new bank with a lower interest rate, and working out a debt management plan with your creditor,” Lupo concludes.
Methodology
In order to determine the states where people are in the most financial distress, WalletHub compared the 50 states across nine key metrics in six overall categories: 1) Credit Score, 2) People with Accounts in Distress, 3) Average Number of Accounts in Distress, 4) Change in Number of Bankruptcy Filings – September 2024 vs. September 2023, 5) “Debt” Search Interest Index and 6) “Loans” Search Interest Index. WalletHub defines an account in distress as one that either is in forbearance or has its payments deferred.
Researchers then determined the weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score for each state and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.
Chris, that’s not a sufficient summary of the methodology for us to make sense of this table. Only one of those 6 metrics is even in the table. What were the rules for scoring states in these categories? What’s the min? What’s the max? How are we supposed to interpret the best and worst total scores here (18.50, 63.75, respectively)?