Despite Q4 2024 being the first quarterly decrease since 2022, overall filings were up.
February 13, 2025 | Burlingame, Calif.
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 a 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 a 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:
- Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
- North Central West
- Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington)
- 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:
- North Central East (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin)
- Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont)
- Southwest (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas)
Southeast experienced the 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
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
Wisconsin (+15.2%) leads in percentage growth, and Ohio (+3,027 units) has the largest absolute volume growth. - North Central West
Minnesota (+25.2%) leads in percentage growth and has the largest absolute volume growth (+1,701). - Northeast
Massachusetts (+22.6%) has the highest percentage growth, and New York (+1,838 units) has the largest absolute volume growth. - Pacific
Washington (+28.0%) leads with the highest percentage growth, and California (+8,689 units) shows the largest absolute volume growth. - Southeast
Florida (+25.9%) has the highest percentage increase, demonstrating the largest absolute volume growth (+7,281). - Southwest
Texas (+25.3%) has the highest percentage growth and shows the largest absolute volume growth (+5,875).
About G2 Risk Solutions
G2 Risk Solutions is the definitive expert in risk and compliance business intelligence for financial institutions and online platforms. We are industry pioneers providing market-leading solutions for merchant risk, digital commerce risk, bankruptcy risk, and credit risk and regulatory reporting. We are driving innovation and shaping the future of risk management through unprecedented data, technology, and global compliance and risk expertise, providing the financial services and digital commerce ecosystems with the tools needed to navigate complex and ever-changing regulatory requirements and mitigate risk.
Media contact
Nicole Selinger (For G2 Risk Solutions)
nicole@kmprcollective.com
314-805-2165