Fifty-seven percent of Americans say their financial situation is only fair or poor, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in May.
But a household's location can be a major factor in how difficult it is to keep up financially. SmartAsset reports that residents in some states may be contending with a mix of high living costs, weaker incomes and heavier debt burdens.
To find out how financial pressure is distributed across the country, SmartAsset analyzed these metrics:
— Non-business bankruptcy filings for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2025
— Seasonally adjusted unemployment for February 2026
— Real per capita personal income for 2024
— Preliminary SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participation for November 2025
— 2024 housing cost burden data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau
Researchers assigned each state a composite score and ranked them from most struggling to most thriving.
See the accompanying gallery for the 12 states where Americans are struggling most.
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