New map reveals the most financially distressed states in the US — see which was dubbed most ‘desperate'
The US has been plagued by economic uncertainty of late, but some regions were definitely hit harder than others. Personal finance company WalletHub recently unveiled a map showing the states with the most people suffering from financial distress — finding that Texas topped the list in this regard.
That's right, despite being the largest economy in the world — with a GDP bigger than most countries — the Lone Star State has been in dire straits financially due to its citizens' low credit scores, deferred payments and bankruptcy filings, per the survey.
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Meanwhile, New York came in at an unimpressive 19th place, proving that Empire Staters are floundering financially despite the Big Apple boasting the most billionaires on Earth.
4 'Measuring the share of residents in financial distress is a good way to take the pulse of a state and see whether people are generally thriving or having trouble making ends meet,' said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. 'When you combine data about people delaying payments with other metrics like bankruptcy filings and credit score changes, it paints a good picture of the overall economic trends of a state.'
Yakobchuk Olena – stock.adobe.com
WalletHub defined financial distress as having a credit account that is in forbearance, meaning 'the account holder is temporarily allowed to not make payments due to financial difficulty,' per the site.
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This trend has unfortunately been on the rise as the country faces skyrocketing inflation — the effects of which have been exacerbated by tariffs and other government expenditures — fluctuating unemployment, natural disasters and other factors that have made it harder for Americans to pay their bills.
To determine which regions were the most impacted, WalletHub compared the 50 states across key metrics, including average credit score, the change in the number of bankruptcy filings over the last year, and the percentage of people with accounts in distress.
4 Big Bend National Park in Texas, whose citizens were the most financial distressed, per the survey.
Zack Frank – stock.adobe.com
They also factored in the frequency of searches involving the terms while creating the map, which was based on data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, credit reporting firm TransUnion, Google Trends, and its own database.
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WalletHub then calculated the 'weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score for each state and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.'
'Measuring the share of residents in financial distress is a good way to take the pulse of a state and see whether people are generally thriving or having trouble making ends meet,' said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. 'When you combine data about people delaying payments with other metrics like bankruptcy filings and credit score changes, it paints a good picture of the overall economic trends of a state.'
4 Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head on Oahu, Hawaii, whose residents boasted the lowest levels of financial distress.
tomas del amo – stock.adobe.com
Texas placed first in the economic hardship Olympiad.
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The Southwestern hub's struggles were evident in the fact that its citizens boasted the ninth-lowest average credit score in first quarter of 2025, the third highest number of accounts with deferred payments and the seventh highest share of people with distressed accounts — at 7.1%.
Texans also Google the terms 'debt' and 'loans' at an alarming clip, illustrating many people are 'desperate to borrow, despite already owing money,' per the site.
4 New York placed 19th when it came to the number of citizens with financial distress.
Nicholas J. Klein – stock.adobe.com
Clocking in second was Florida with the 'Panhandler' state boasting the second-highest increase in the percentage of people with distressed accounts from March 2024 to March 2024 — at nearly 23%.
It also had sixth-highest overall share of people with accounts in distress, at 7.3%, redefining the term 'tropical depression.'
Meanwhile, rounding out the top three were Louisiana, Nevada and South Carolina.
Here are the ten states with the most people in financial distress
Texas Florida Louisiana Nevada South Carolina Oklahoma North Carolina Mississippi Kentucky Alabama
Thankfully, not all of the country was embroiled in as much economic turmoil.
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The states with the lowest levels of financial distress were Hawaii, Vermont, and Alaska while New Jersey placed an admirable 7th place in this regard.
Here are the 10 states with the lowest levels of financial distress
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