Are Your Customers Financially Distressed?

With 7 million Americans having at least one credit account where they are late on their payments or have been allowed to delay them, according to WalletHub, which recently released its 2024 rankings for the States with the Most People in Financial Distress. The report sheds light on the financial troubles experienced by people across the U.S.

and shows where those difficulties are most pronounced. "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 Cassandra Happe, WalletHub Analyst. "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."

People living in Michigan, Texas, and Nevada are showing the most distress, according to WalletHub's metrics. "In Q1 2024, Michigan had the most accounts per person in financial distress, meaning accounts where the account holder was temporarily allowed to not make payments due to financial difficulty," Happe said. "Michiganians also had the second-highest increase in the share of people with distressed accounts between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024 at over 70%."

Most distressed 1. Michigan 2. Texas 3.

Nevada 4. Tennessee 5. Rhode Island 6.

Georgia 7. Louisiana 8. North Carolina 9.

Mississippi 10. New York Least distressed 41. Wyoming 42.

Oregon 43. Kansas 44. Maine 45.

Nebraska 46. Wisconsin 47. Vermont 48.