More than 1 in 3 US households have financial insecurity, survey says
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Americans are feeling the strain when it comes to paying usual household expenses, according to a LendingTree survey.
More than 1 in 3 (36.4%) U.S. households said they found it somewhat or very difficult to pay for necessities such as food, rent or other debts in the past week. That’s up 6.7% from 34.1% during the same period in 2022.
"It’s troubling that 1 in 3 American households are financially insecure," says LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz, "but it shouldn’t be terribly surprising. The perfect storm of record debt, sky-high interest rates and stubborn inflation has resulted in many Americans’ financial margin of error shrinking to virtually zero."
States with the most financial insecurity in 2024
The top 10 states that had the most difficulty paying for usual household expenses in 2024 were:
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- Oklahoma
- West Virginia
- Texas
- Georgia
- Wyoming
- Louisiana
- Idaho
31 states saw increases in financial insecurity over 2 years
Between 2022 and 2024, a majority of U.S. states saw an increase in financial insecurity, according to data collected by LendingTree.
Washington, Wyoming and Montana were among the states to see the highest increases, at 41.6%, 33.4% and 30.7%, respectively.
A few of the top states that saw the lowest increases were Louisiana, Maine and New Mexico.
However, despite the rising percentages, most states (39) saw a year-over-year decrease in financial insecurity.
From 2023 to 2024, states such as California and Illinois saw double-digit decreases.
"There’s still plenty of room for improvement," says Schulz, "but that positive trend is encouraging."
This story was reported from Los Angeles.