Stress Test Your Zip Code
See how household financial distress in your state compares with the all-state distribution.
Your zip code may be reviewed by American Default Research to understand where people get stuck and improve this tool.
What This Tool Measures
The State Distress Index tracks four domains of household financial stress for every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. It draws on data from the NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Courts, and BLS.
Your zip code maps to a state, and we show you that state's composite distress score, rank, and quintile. A higher score means more of the state-level inputs sit higher in the current state cross-section.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the State Distress Index work?
The State Distress Index uses four equal-weighted domains: delinquency, default and legal, labor, and safety-net buffer. Scores rank all states plus DC against each other in the current cross-section.
Is my zip code or location stored?
Your zip code may be sent to American Default Research so we can understand where people stop, improve the tool, and help when someone asks to be contacted. We do not sell your information.
Why does this use state-level data, not zip-level?
Most federal financial distress data (delinquency rates, bankruptcy filings, CFPB complaints) is reported at the state level. We use your zip code to identify your state, then show you the most granular distress data available for that jurisdiction.
What do the colors mean?
The colors describe each state's distress quintile relative to other states: green for the lowest-distress states, then slate, orange, and red for the highest. The national American Distress Index uses a separate five-band time-axis scale and currently reads 44.6, in its Typical band. On average, its inputs sit higher than in 45% of their own quarterly histories since 2005.
How often is this data updated?
State Distress Index scores are recomputed whenever underlying data sources update — typically monthly for unemployment and SNAP, quarterly for delinquency rates, and annually for bankruptcy filings.