WalletHub compared all 50 states across nine key metrics to take the temperature of ‘financial distress.”
New York State didn’t do well.
This financial stress test ranked New York State as the 10th most stressed in the country.
“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. 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,” said Cassandra Happe, WalletHub Analyst.
New York ranks 10th worst in credit score, 29th worst in number of people with accounts in distress, and 13th highest in increased bankruptcies since last year. New Yorkers also ranked high in Internet searches for terms such as ‘debt’, ranking 1st, and ‘loans’, ranking 9th highest."
Suffolk County was not part of the WalletHub study on its own. Still, data about the general financial situation of the county is available from the US Census and The Long Island Community Foundation. The poverty rate on Long Island generally is 5.9% with an average of 5.41% in Nassau County and 6.5% in Suffolk County.
The average income in Suffolk County is $164,027. Roughly 166,000 people are living below the poverty level in a population of 1.53 million in the County.
The Health and Welfare Council of Long Island reports that the ‘living under the poverty line’ statistic does not tell the whole story. They report that there are additional households on Long Island with incomes above the national poverty level that still fall below the budget calculated to be able to afford basic needs.
Data from People’s World Organization reports that the poorest towns on Long Island are Riverside, Northampton, Calverton, Greenport, Aquebogue, Moriches, Central Islip, and Mastic Beach. Some of these ‘poorest’ towns are adjacent to the richest ones making the contrast even more stark.
The states ranking worse than New York are Michigan, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and Mississippi
New York City ranked 3rd and Buffalo 67th of 100 cities with the most individuals in financial distress.
To determine the states where people are in the most financial distress, WalletHub compared the 50 states across nine key metrics in six overall categories: 1) Credit Score, 2) People with Accounts in Distress, 3) Average Number of Accounts in Distress, 4) Change in Number of Bankruptcy Filings - March 2024 vs. March 2023, 5) “Debt” Search Interest Index and 6) “Loans” Search Interest Index. WalletHub defines an account in distress as one that either is in forbearance or has its payments deferred.
WalletHub analyzed data Information from its data, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Transunion, and Google Trends.