Jacksonville ranked third in country for most financially distressed residents

Floridians are feeling financially distressed in the face of high costs.

A new analysis from WalletHub, a financial advice company, shows that Florida has four of the top 10 cities with the most financially distressed residents in the U.S. Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami are all among the worst cities in terms of financial health.

WalletHub analysts compared 100 of the largest cities in the country using metrics such as average credit scores, changes in bankruptcy filings between December 2023 and December 2024, and the share of people with financial accounts in distress.

The results show times appear to be tough for many residents of Florida’s four largest metropolitan areas.

Jacksonville ranked third in the nation for having the most people in financial distress.

“Jacksonville has the third-most financially distressed residents in the country, this is evident from the fact that nearly 16% of its residents are having accounts in distress, the highest percentage in the nation, along with the highest number of distressed accounts per person,” the WalletHub analysis concluded.

“In addition, due to financial strain residents of Jacksonville were allowed to defer payments in 2024, as the city saw the biggest change in the share of people with accounts in distress between (the fourth quarter of) 2023 and (the fourth quarter of) 2024, marking a nearly 87% increase.”

Jacksonville was tied for first in the nation for accounts in distress. Unfortunately for Florida, that tie was with two other Florida cities: Orlando and Tampa. Charlotte, North Carolina, and Omaha, Nebraska, were also tied for the dubious mark.

In the overall rankings, Orlando came in sixth. Tampa finished eighth, just ahead of Miami in ninth.

Houston topped the list of the cities with the most financially distressed residents. The Lone Star State was the only state to match Florida with the number of cities among the top 10. Dallas placed fourth, with San Antonio in seventh and Austin in 10th.

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