A personal finance company recently released the results of a survey about which U.S. states have the most money worries, and the results may surprise you.
WalletHub released the study, titled “States with the Most People in Financial Distress,” on July 17. The company said it used nine key metrics, including changes in credit scores and internet searches for “debt” and “loans,” to arrive at its results.
“Our dataset includes factors such as average credit scores, the change in bankruptcy filings from March 2023 to March 2024, and the percentage of people with problem accounts,” WalletHub explained.
No clear trends emerged across regions of the U.S., with the most cash-strapped states concentrated in the Southeast and the least cash-strapped states concentrated in New England and the Midwest.
WalletHub ranked U.S. states as follows, from least to most economically disadvantaged residents:
50. New Hampshire
49. Iowa
48. Connecticut
47. Vermont
46. Wisconsin
45. Nebraska
44. Maine
43. Kansas
42. Oregon
41. Wyoming
40. Massachusetts
39. Hawaii
38. Pennsylvania
37. New Mexico
36. Montana
35. Utah
34. Alaska
33. Virginia
32. New Jersey
31. Arkansas
30. Colorado
29. Minnesota
28. Indiana
27. Ohio
26. California
25. Idaho
24. Washington
23. North Dakota
22. Maryland
21. Missouri
20. Illinois
19. West Virginia
18. Arizona
17. Alabama
16. Delaware
15. South Dakota
14. Kentucky
13. Florida
12. Oklahoma
11. South Carolina
10. New York
9. Mississippi
8. North Carolina
7. Louisiana
6. Georgia
5. Rhode Island
4. Tennessee
3. Nevada
2. Texas
1. Michigan
WalletHub found that in the first quarter of 2024, the Great Lakes state had “the most financially distressed accounts per capita — accounts where the account holder is allowed to temporarily not make payments due to financial hardship,” making Michigan the most financially distressed state.
“Michigan saw the second-highest increase in the percentage of people with non-performing accounts, exceeding 70 percent, between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024,” the study added.
The company added that despite Texas having a $2.4 trillion economy, the state is second only to Michigan in size.
“But Texans are experiencing many financial hardships, as evidenced by the fact that Texans had the third-lowest average credit score in the country in the first quarter of 2024,” WalletHub reported.
“Texans are also more likely to Google ‘debt’ and ‘loans,’ suggesting that many are desperate to get into debt, even if they are already in debt.”
According to WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe, gauging states by their fiscal distress is an effective way to “take the pulse of a state and see whether people are generally thriving or struggling to make ends meet.”
“When you combine the data on people who are late on their payments with other indicators like bankruptcy filings and changes in credit scores, it gives you a good picture of the state’s overall economic trends,” Happe said.
Fox Business reached out to WalletHub for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
