As Backward MAGA States Rally Around Trump, their Economies Sink

Texas is first, followed by Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and South Carolina, all backward heavily-MAGA states.
=======================================================

Florida is now the 2nd most financially distressed state in the US — topped only by Texas, Google helps reveal
Moneywise
Thu, September 4, 2025

With prices rising on everything from groceries to rent amid an economic backdrop of uncertainty, many Americans are struggling to pay their bills.

They’re even turning to credit to pay for essentials. A recent LendingTree survey [1] found that one-quarter (25%) of buy-now-pay-later users have used these loans to buy groceries.

But some states are struggling more than others.

Florida is now one of the most financially stressed states in the country, ranked second only to another Southern state, according to a new report by WalletHub [2]. The report defines financial distress as having credit in forbearance or deferring payments due to financial difficulty.

“When you combine data about people delaying payments with other metrics like bankruptcy filings and credit score changes, it paints a good picture of the overall economic trends of a state,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said about the findings.

Here are the five states struggling the most and why people there are having such a tough time.

According to WalletHub’s analysis of nine financial metrics across all 50 states, Texas ranks as the most financially distressed state in the U.S., followed by Florida, Louisiana, Nevada and South Carolina.

Texas, despite having a GDP larger than most countries — coming ninth globally according to Visual Capitalist [3] — also led the nation in Google searches for “debt” and “loans” while experiencing a sharp rise in bankruptcy filings, based on the WalletHub report [2].

Florida ranked second overall, topping the list for the share of people with accounts in distress and having one of the nation’s worst average credit scores.

Louisiana came in third, with the highest average number of accounts in distress and the largest share of residents with accounts in forbearance. Nevada had the third-worst credit score, while South Carolina showed high levels of account distress.

As for the least financially distressed states? They are Hawaii, Vermont, Alaska, Oregon and New Mexico.

Hawaii was the winner here, despite having the fourth-worst credit score ranking. However, it performed well in all other categories, and, unlike Texas, it was the state with the fewest number of people searching Google for “debt” and “loans.”

What to do if you’re financially underwater

Financial strain is widespread across the U.S. — even states considered the least distressed, like Hawaii and Vermont, show weak credit scores. A Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity study [4] revealed that 60% of households fall below the minimum standard for a decent quality of life, factoring in essentials and modest leisure.

The core issue: Wages haven’t kept pace with soaring costs, including a 301% rise in medical premiums and a 131% jump in rent since 2001.

What’s more, over the past 25 years, the total cost of employer-provided family medical coverage has risen by 314%, with worker contributions climbing even higher — up 326%, according to the National Library of Medicine [5].