Money Matters - Financial Distress Survey and Tips

 As inflation continues to strain household budgets and make it harder for Americans to keep up with loan and credit payments, the personal finance company WalletHub has released its latest report on the Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress. The report sheds light on where financial pressure is hitting residents the hardest across the country.

To compile the rankings, WalletHub evaluated the 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine key metrics. These factors include average credit scores, changes in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025, and the share of residents with accounts in distress.
 

Most Distressed	Least Distressed
1. Chicago, IL	91. Scottsdale, AZ
2. Houston, TX	92. Honolulu, HI
3. Las Vegas, NV	93. Des Moines, IA
4. Dallas, TX	94. Spokane, WA
5. Los Angeles, CA	95. Jersey City, NJ
6. San Antonio, TX	96. Pittsburgh, PA
7. Atlanta, GA	97. Lincoln, NE
8. New York, NY	98. Boise, ID
9. Austin, TX	99. Winston-Salem, NC
10. Phoenix, AZ	100. Anchorage, AK

 


“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat. You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off. People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control.”
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“It seems that in the Windy City, people’s financial security is also blowing away. The share of Chicago residents who are allowed to skip debt payments due to financial difficulties went up by nearly 30% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025. Chicago residents also had the third-most accounts in distress per person. Financial distress may increase further, too, as Chicago has some of the highest Google search interest in the country for terms like ‘debt’ and ‘loans,’ which indicates that people need to borrow even more.”

- Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst 


More from WalletHub

• States with the Most People in Financial Distress
• States With Largest and Smallest Credit Card Debt Increases
• States Where Auto Loan Debt Is Increasing the Most
• States Where Credit Card Delinquency Is Increasing the Most
• States Where Credit Limits Decreased the Most