Kansas Tops WalletHub's 2026 Financial Distress Ranking at 3.9% as Louisiana Hits 12%
Updated
Updated · KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Jul 17
Kansas Tops WalletHub's 2026 Financial Distress Ranking at 3.9% as Louisiana Hits 12%
3 articles · Updated · KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Jul 17
Summary
Kansas ranked as the most financially distressed state in WalletHub's 50-state analysis, ahead of Louisiana and Florida, with 3.9% of residents holding accounts in distress.
WalletHub based the ranking on nine measures including credit scores, bankruptcy changes and distressed accounts, defining distress as credit accounts in forbearance or with deferred payments due to hardship.
Kansas posted the nation's 20th-lowest average credit score, while non-business bankruptcy filings there rose nearly 12% from March 2025 to March 2026 and residents searched heavily for terms like "debt" and "loans."
Louisiana ranked second with the country's highest share of residents in distress at about 12% and the third-lowest credit score, while Florida placed third with the fifth-highest distressed accounts per person.
The report ties the strain to inflation, shifting unemployment and public health emergencies, with Texas and South Carolina rounding out the five most distressed states.