Tennessee among top states for financial distress, WalletHub survey finds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennesseans are struggling more financially than people in other states, according to one WalletHub study.

The survey showed that Tennessee ranks among the top states where people are in financial distress. The volunteer state sits at number four overall on that list, behind Nevada, Texas and Michigan at number one.

The financial advising company said that an account is marked as in financial distress when it is in forbearance. That means that the account holder is temporarily not allowed to make payments due to financial difficulty. Between the recent public health crisis, inflation and other economic hurdles, these findings did not surprise one analyst.

“It really is a concerning thing to see,” Cassandra Happe, an analyst with WalletHub. “Over the past few years, a lot of people have had to maybe spend a little bit beyond their means just to make ends meet. Inflation was skyrocketing while wages weren’t necessarily keeping pace with that change in inflation.”

That disparity between wages and inflation has hit Tennesseans hard, Happe said.

“Now, we’re seeing more or less the results of the past couple of years that struggle with that,” Happe said. “More residents are used to the concept of having to pay a little bit more than they did before.”

In order to determine the ranking, WalletHub compared each of the 50 states across six overall categories:

• Credit score
• Accounts in distress
• Average number of accounts in distress
• Change in the number of bankruptcy filings year over year
• Searches about “debt” on Google
• Searches about “loans” on Google

“We do the study because it helps to analyze the trends out there to really help both residents and policymakers get a better sense of where residents are struggling more with financial distress, Happe said. “They can tailor their responses to that.”

Despite the numbers, Tennesseans can still feel optimistic because there are a few areas that appear to be improving. Happe said that there have been fewer bankruptcy filings year over year.

WalletHub analysts said that you can help get yourself out of debt by communicating with your lenders to see if you can reduce what you owe, negotiate better terms with credit lenders, and build a detailed, accurate and honest budget.

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