Money Tight? No State’s Worse For That Than Michigan

If you're in Michigan and struggling to make ends meet, know that you're not alone.

A new study finds that Michigan leads the nation with the greatest percentage of people in financial distress.

SEE ALSO: Here's How Much Money It Takes to Be Happy in Michigan

The personal finance website WalletHub recently dug into the data to determine the "States with the Most People in Financial Distress".

What Constitutes "Financial Distress"?

The WalletHub study looked at a variety of factors, including:

• the average credit score among each state's residents, including its change year-over-year from 2023 to 2024;
• the percentage of residents currently authorized to have payments on at least open account paused for financial hardship reasons, and the change in that metric year-over-year;
• the average number of accounts in distress;
• each state's year-over-year change in its number of bankruptcy filings;
• and the percentage of each state's residents Googling info on "debt" or "loans".

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Most of Michigan's numbers were rather alarming.

Michiganders in Financial Distress

The WalletHub study rated Michiganders as "the most financially distressed people in the country".

The number of people in Michigan with at least one account qualifying as in "financial distress" grew by more than 70% from 2023 to 2024, according to WalletHub.

SEE ALSO: This Michigan City Has the Lowest Cost-of-Living in America

Michigan also leads the nation in the number of accounts per person that are in financial distress.

Michigan Cities Are in Financial Distress Too

It's not just personal finance. Many Michigan cities and towns are finding themselves in distress these days as well, so much so that the State Treasury is coming to the rescue in some places.

The state's Financially Distressed Cities, Villages and Townships (FDCVT) Grant Program awarded nearly $3 million in 2024 across more than a dozen Michigan municipalities to help with projects aimed at helping to relieve some of the problems.

Dansville was awarded more than $80,000 from the state to help with infrastructure at the village hall building as well as water and sewer improvements.

Lansing Township got nearly $220,000 to help replace police and fire equipment.