With prices rising on everything from groceries to rent amid a backdrop of economic uncertainty, many Americans are struggling to pay the bills.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re even turning to credit to pay for essentials. A recent LendingTree survey<\/a> found that one-quarter (25%) of buy-now-pay-later users have used these loans to buy groceries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But some states are struggling more than others. Florida is now one of the most financially stressed states in the country, second only to another Southern state, according to a new report<\/a> by WalletHub, which defines financial distress as having credit in forbearance or deferring payments due to financial difficulty.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen 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,\u201d WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said about the findings.<\/p>\n Here are the five states struggling the most and why people there are having such a tough time.<\/p>\n Texas is the most financially distressed state in the country, followed by Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and South Carolina. The states that are best off? That honor goes to Hawaii, followed by Vermont, Alaska, Oregon and New Mexico.<\/p>\n To determine their ranking, WalletHub compared all 50 states across nine key metrics in six categories, calculating an overall score by weighting the average across all metrics. For example, the \u2018credit score\u2019 category is determined by two key metrics: the average credit score as of March earned double weight, while the change in credit score from March 2024 to March 2025 earned full weight.<\/p>\n Once all the numbers were crunched, Texas came out on top \u2014 and, in this case, No. 1 means the most distressed or worst off \u2014 even though the state has a larger GDP than most countries (ranking ninth<\/a> on the world stage). And it still has one of the top 10 economies in the U.S.<\/p>\n Texans search Google for \u2018debt\u2019 and \u2018loans\u2019 at a high rate, \u201cwhich shows that many people are desperate to borrow, despite already owing money,\u201d says the WalletHub report. They also ranked sixth in the change in number of bankruptcy filings from March 2024 to March 2025, with non-business bankruptcy filings increasing more than 22% in the past year.<\/p>\n Story Continues <\/p>\n Overall, Florida was the second-most financially distressed state in the country, ranking No. 1 in the share of people with accounts in financial distress and No. 2 in the average number of accounts per person that were in distress. Florida had the ninth-worst credit score ranking in the country; one previous WalletHub study<\/a> found that Floridians have the second-highest credit delinquency rate nationally.<\/p>\n Following in third place was Louisiana, which ranked above Florida for the average number of accounts in distress \u2014 taking the No. 1 spot \u2014 and above Texas in the \u2018loans\u2019 search index ranking (at No. 2). \u201cAround 11.8% of Louisianians also have a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments, the highest share in the country,\u201d according to WalletHub.<\/p>\n Nevada, coming in at No. 4 overall, had the third-worst credit score ranking in the country (the top spot went to Montana), while South Carolina, at No. 5 overall, ranked highly in the number of people with accounts in financial distress and average number of accounts in distress.<\/p>\n As for the least financially distressed states? Hawaii was the winner here, even though the state had the fourth-worst credit score ranking. But it performed well in all other categories and, unlike Texas, it was the state with the fewest number of people searching Google for \u2018debt\u2019 and \u2018loans.\u2019<\/p>\n Read more: Nervous about the stock market? Gain potential quarterly income through this $1B private real estate fund \u2014 even if you\u2019re not a millionaire. Here\u2019s how to get started with as little as $10<\/a><\/p>\n While states like Texas and Florida may be struggling the most, all states are struggling to some degree. Of the five states that were deemed to be the least financially distressed in the WalletHub study, three of them (Hawaii, Vermont and New Mexico) didn\u2019t fare well on their credit score ranking.<\/p>\n Indeed, the bottom 60% of U.S. households (by income) fall short of the threshold for a minimal quality of life, according to a Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) analysis<\/a>. (The analysis takes into account essentials, like food and shelter, as well as basic leisure costs, such as streaming subscriptions.)<\/p>\n It points to the fact that wages haven\u2019t kept up with rising costs \u2014 for example, medical premiums skyrocketed 301% from 2001 to 2023 and rent jumped by 131%.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re struggling to make ends meet, start by making a budget<\/a> so you\u2019ll have a clear idea of how you\u2019re spending your money (and where you can cut back).<\/p>\n If you\u2019re behind on paying your bills, be proactive. \u201cDo it before a debt collector gets involved. Tell your creditors what\u2019s going on, and try to work out a new payment plan with lower payments you can manage,\u201d according to the Federal Trade Commission consumer advice<\/a>.<\/p>\n The same goes for mortgage payments. If you\u2019re struggling, contact your lender before they foreclose on your home. If you\u2019re acting in good faith, your lender may temporarily lower or defer your payments or work with you to extend your repayment period (meaning lower overall payments).<\/p>\n When it comes to credit card debt, you\u2019ll want to make at least the minimum payments each month so your credit score doesn\u2019t take a hit. But since interest rates are so high \u2014 averaging around 24% these days \u2014 you\u2019ll want to focus on paying this down as soon as possible, along with any other high-interest debts. You can do this through debt-reducing strategies such as the snowball<\/a> or avalanche<\/a> methods.<\/p>\n You may also want to seek out additional sources of income, whether that\u2019s taking on a side gig, upskilling or reskilling for a higher-paying role or new job, or looking for passive income such as renting out a room in your home.<\/p>\n Digging yourself out of debt isn\u2019t easy, but there are resources that can help, including low-fee credit counseling services. For housing challenges, you can contact a free, HUD-certified counselor for advice via your local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office<\/a>.<\/p>\n