2007 – Where is the Economic Pain?

I read a recent article in the Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report about bankruptcy filings after the 2005 reform act.  The author (Jon Ann H. Giblin) compared 2006 filings with 2007 filings (in her table).

I asked myself – Which states have more filings, on a percentage basis?  (This, of course, begs the question of why, which is another matter.)  I used the U.S. Census Bureau information and combined it with the 2007 filing data to show filings as a percentage of population.

Tennessee and Alabama top the list.  Lots of pain in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.  Odd to note the substantial difference between Georgia and S. Carolina. 

Update – My friend, Nashville bankruptcy attorney Kevin Key, points out that Suth Carolina does not permit wage garnishment, which helps account for the low bankruptcy filings in that state.   The discharge is not needed if state law already prevents creditors from enforcing their debts. 

  2007 Bankruptcy Filings 2007 Population Filings as a percentage of population
.Alabama 23,856 4,627,851 0.52%
.Alaska 697 683,478 0.10%
.Arizona 10,920 6,338,755 0.17%
.Arkansas 11,852 2,834,797 0.42%
.California 72,615 36,553,215 0.20%
.Colorado 15,499 4,861,515 0.32%
.Connecticut 5,890 3,502,309 0.17%
.Delaware 712 864,764 0.08%
.District of Columbia 2,002 588,292 0.34%
.Florida 41,462 18,251,243 0.23%
.Georgia 50,092 9,544,750 0.52%
.Hawaii 1,386 1,283,388 0.11%
.Idaho 3,838 1,499,402 0.26%
.Illinois 41,456 12,852,548 0.32%
.Indiana 31,122 6,345,289 0.49%
.Iowa 7,036 2,988,046 0.24%
.Kansas 8,072 2,775,997 0.29%
.Kentucky 17,157 4,241,474 0.40%
.Louisiana 14,277 4,293,204 0.33%
.Maine 2,304 1,317,207 0.17%
.Maryland 13,733 5,618,344 0.24%
.Massachusetts 13,705 6,449,755 0.21%
.Michigan 46,190 10,071,822 0.46%
.Minnesota 11,902 5,197,621 0.23%
.Mississippi 11,217 2,918,785 0.38%
.Missouri 21,257 5,878,415 0.36%
.Montana 1,879 957,861 0.20%
.Nebraska 5,364 1,774,571 0.30%
.Nevada 10,953 2,565,382 0.43%
.New Hampshire 2,983 1,315,828 0.23%
.New Jersey 19,948 8,685,920 0.23%
.New Mexico 3,403 1,969,915 0.17%
.New York 40,519 19,297,729 0.21%
.North Carolina 19,710 9,061,032 0.22%
.North Dakota 1,206 639,715 0.19%
.Ohio 50,723 11,466,917 0.44%
.Oklahoma 9,127 3,617,316 0.25%
.Oregon 9,386 3,747,455 0.25%
.Pennsylvania 29,962 12,432,792 0.24%
.Rhode Island 2,817 1,057,832 0.27%
.South Carolina 7,291 4,407,709 0.17%
.South Dakota 1,366 796,214 0.17%
.Tennessee 39,593 6,156,719 0.64%
.Texas 42,931 23,904,380 0.18%
.Utah 6,464 2,645,330 0.24%
.Vermont 895 621,254 0.14%
.Virginia 19,478 7,712,091 0.25%
.Washington 15,568 6,468,424 0.24%
.West Virginia 4,492 1,812,035 0.25%
.Wisconsin 15,851 5,601,640 0.28%
.Wyoming 795 522,830 0.15%