Bankruptcy Map Gives New Meaning to "Red" States

11/08/10
A map showing Bankruptcy Filings Per Capita gives new meaning to the term "Red State." The map prepared by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts analyzes bankruptcy filings per capita for each of the nation's counties for the year ending September 30, 2010. The higher the per capita filing rate, the redder the map. (You can access the map via the link in the first sentence, but be sure to click on the 2010 tab to get the right map).

The map shows the highest per capita filings in Southern California/Nevada, the Midwest and the Southeast. Texas had light filings compared to the rest of the nation. In Travis County, where I live, the rate was 1.9 filings per thousand residents or about 1 bankruptcy for every 500 people. In contrast, Shelby County, TN had a rate of 14.6 filings per thousand or about 1 filing for every 68 residents. When you think about it, 1 in 68 is a lot of bankruptcies.

The following is a list of those counties experiencing per capita filing rates above 10 per thousand, which works out to 1% (The list may not be exact because it is necessary to mouse over a county to get its specific rate. It is entirely possible that my mousing skills may have left some counties unnoticed).

Counties With Per Capita Filing Rates Above 1%


County

District

Rate

Shelby County

TN-W

14.60

Henry County

GA-N

13.88

Douglass County

GA-N

13.28

Newton County

GA-N

13.14

Walker County

GA-N

13.10

Clark County

NV

13.09

Gallatin County

KY-E

13.05

Rockdale County

GA-N

12.59

Grant County

KY-E

12.33

Clayton County

GA-N

12.23

Ware County

GA-S

11.72

Lauderdale County

TN-W

11.52

Glasscock County

GA-S

11.42

Paulding County

GA-N

11.33

Hopkins County

KY-W

11.26

Tuscaloosa County

AL-N

11.14

Barrow County

GA-N

11.09

Riverside County

CA-C

10.98

Dyer County

TN-W

10.92

Cook County

GA-M

10.84

McDuffie County

GA-S

10.75

Crook County

OR

10.59

Tipton County

TN-W

10.49

Lapeer County

MI-E

10.47

Pierce County

GA-S

10.44

Hardeman County

TN-W

10.39

Haywood County

TN-W

10.38

Crockett County

TN-W

10.35

Troup County

GA-N

10.33

Jennings County

IN-S

10.31

Madison County

TN-W

10.30

Deschutes County

OR

10.29

Gibson County

TN-W

10.11

Genesee County

MI-E

10.04

Whitley County

IN-N

10.01

The Districts with the most high per capita filings were the Northern District of Georgia (nine counties) and the Western District of Tennessee (eight counties). What does this tell us? A lot of people are filing for bankruptcy in the rural Southeast.

None of the highest per capita filing counties were in major metropolitan areas. However, the general pattern held for the ten largest cities in the United States. There were lower per capita filings in the Northeast (New York and Philadelphia) and Texas (Houston, San Antonio and Dallas) and higher filing rates in the Midwest (Chicago), Arizona (Phoenix) and California (Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose).

Per Capita Filing Rates of Counties With Ten Largest Cities

County

District

Rate

New York County

NY-S

1.99

Los Angeles County

CA-C

7.11

Cook County (Chicago)

IL-N

7.23

Harris County (Houston)

TX-S

1.99

Maricopa County (Phoenix)

AZ

7.29

Delaware County(Philadelphia)

PA-E

2.45

Bexar County (San Antonio)

TX-W

2.45

San Diego County (San Diego)

CA-S

7.35

Dallas County (Dallas)

TX-N

2.76

Santa Clara County (San Jose)

CA-N

4.86

Note: I could not find a correlation between "red" counties in the per capita filing rates and "red" Congressional districts in the 2010 elections. Of the counties with the ten highest filing rates, 5 1/6 elected Republican representatives and 4 5/6 elected Democratic representatives. The fractions result from the fact that some counties are included in more than one Congressional district.

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