The US State Where The Most People Are Struggling Financially

Using nine metrics, in July 2026, WalletHub scored all 50 states in order of its residents' financial distress — with higher scores meaning more problems. The No. 1 ranking ended up being Kansas. With a total score of 55.04, people there are struggling. Specific factors noted include how, on average in Q1 2026, Kansas residents had the country's 20th-lowest credit scores, which suggests that residents aren't making all their debt payments on time and/or are racking up larger amounts of debt.

Similarly, Kansas residents had the 14th largest number of personal accounts in financial distress — meaning that a lender is temporarily suspending payments on an account to help the person avoid foreclosure. However, interest typically tends to continue to accrue. 

And the bad news keeps coming. When looking at personal bankruptcy filings, the number has skyrocketed by more than 12% since 2025. In fact, Kansas had the 27th highest increase when looking at higher bankruptcy rates among states. Despite having significant debts, Kansans are also conducting more Google searches for "loans" and "debt" in startling numbers, suggesting that many of them want or feel they need to borrow more money. 

Defining a state as red or blue based upon how people voted in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the financial stress differences between the two is significant. Blue states collectively have the lower, more desirable score of 21.00 while red states scored 32.84. Bolstering this conclusion: the three most financially distressed states — Kansas, Louisiana, and Florida — were all red. 

Floridians possessed the third highest number of distressed accounts per person, which was the second biggest boost in the number of financially strained consumers. Year over year, this is an increase of almost 19%. Meanwhile, the state with the country's third lowest credit scores — with nearly 12% of residents having accounts in forbearance — is Louisiana. When looking just at these distressed accounts, this is the highest in the nation. Distressed accounts can be warning flags of impending foreclosures and/or bankruptcy filings, which can be difficult to financially recover from, let alone regain creditworthiness and buying power.

On the other end of the spectrum, people in Maine are experiencing the least amount of financial turmoil. With an overall score of 14.83, residents had the fifth least amount of changes in their credit scores. Although the report didn't detail what those credit scores were, a credit score of 670 puts people in the "good" category and allows them to take advantage of better interest rates on loans and credit cards. The second-best state: Rhode Island with a score of 20.11. The third best state is Hawaii, which scored 21.14.

In a separate study by Lending Tree, one key financial factor is causing many of consumers' increased numbers of late payments: the buy now, pay later (BNPL) program. 54% of consumers said they'd made a late payment on a BNPL debt, with 47% of them doing so in the last year. That's up from 41% a year ago. Plus, 25% of people using BNPL programs are juggling three or more of these plans simultaneously. The most common purchases when using a BNPL plan include clothing, shoes, and accessories (41%); technology devices (39%); and home décor, furniture, or appliances (33%). But 29% of people saying they've used the BNPL plan for groceries, up from 25% in 2025.