Despite Q4 2024 being the first quarterly decrease since 2022, overall filings were up
While Q4 2024 broke the two-year trend of increasing US bankruptcy filings, overall, total filings for the year surpassed 2023 totals by 14.09%, according to data collected by risk management firm G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS). In Q4 2024, total filings nationwide decreased by -1.4%. However, the total bankruptcy filings for 2024 were 494,169 compared to 433,127 for 2023.
In 2025, G2RS analysts forecast US bankruptcies to continue upward, increasing another projected 12% over 2024. While the overall pattern of bankruptcy growth is expected to continue, G2RS is seeing increasingly divergent trends at the regional level. In the first half of 2024, bankruptcy filings in all regions of the US were increasing. By Q4, some regions were still increasing, while others showed decreases.
“Though bankruptcy filings are still increasing overall, we are starting to see more variation across states with regional economic differences,” said Ryan Sanders, who leads relationship management of US financial institutions at G2RS bankruptcy intelligence solutions. “Filings are expected to continue increasing over the next two years, but this growth may be propelled by certain states instead of across-the-board increases.”
Sanders also noted that total US filings had not reached pre-pandemic levels but are incrementally trending back in that direction.
Four regions experienced decrease in filings in Q4 2024
For the first time since 2022, certain regions of the country showed a decrease in bankruptcy filings.
Those regions were:
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Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
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North Central West
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Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington)
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Southeast (District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia)
The regions that experienced a bankruptcy filing increase in Q4 included:
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North Central East (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin)
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Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont)
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Southwest (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Southeast experienced largest total increase in filings for 2024
Even though the Southeast region experienced a decrease in filings during Q4, when looking at yearly totals, it led the country in overall growth for 2024. Southeast filings increased to 133,028, which is up from 119,342 in 2023. Florida had the highest filing growth in volume and percentage within the region.
The region with the lowest overall growth for 2024 was the North Central West, which increased to 28,436 in 2024 from 25,686 in 2023.
State leaders in regional bankruptcy filings for 2024
Mountain
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Colorado (+26.7%) leads with the highest percentage growth; Arizona (+1,720 units) and Colorado (+1,579 units) have the largest absolute volume growth.
North Central East
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Wisconsin (+15.2%) leads in percentage growth, and Ohio (+3,027 units) has the largest absolute volume growth.
North Central West
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Minnesota (+25.2%) leads in percentage growth and has the largest absolute volume growth (+1,701).
Northeast
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Massachusetts (+22.6%) has the highest percentage growth, and New York (+1,838 units) has the largest absolute volume growth.
Pacific
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Washington (+28.0%) leads with the highest percentage growth, and California (+8,689 units) shows the largest absolute volume growth.
Southeast
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Florida (+25.9%) has the highest percentage increase, demonstrating the largest absolute volume growth (+7,281).
Southwest
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Texas (+25.3%) has the highest percentage growth and shows the largest absolute volume growth (+5,875).