The WalletHub report analyzed factors like average credit scores, the change in bankruptcy filings, and the share of people with accounts in the red.

Americans have faced financial challenges in recent years, including periods of high inflation and unemployment. While some of these stressful economic conditions have eased, many households still have financial stress.

Analyzing factors like average credit scores, the change in bankruptcy filings, and the share of people with accounts in the red, WalletHub ranked the top 100 major U.S. cities with the most people in financial distress.

Houston, Atlanta, and Jacksonville were ranked as the top three cities with the most people in financial distress - in that order, according to WalletHub.

Houston was found to have a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities (over 9%), and it also has some of the highest Google search interest in the country for terms like "debt" and "loans," the report added. Atlanta had the sixth-biggest change in the share of people who had accounts in distress between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, with over a 36% increase, according to WalletHub. Meanwhile, nearly 16% of Jacksonville residents were found to have accounts in distress, the highest percentage in the nation, along with the highest number of distressed accounts per person, the report said.

What they're saying:

"Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in a statement. "You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off."

"People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control," Lupo added.

Dig deeper:

Late last year, WalletHub also conducted this analysis by state and found that Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Kentucky and Florida ranked as the top five with the most financially-distressed residents.

By the numbers:

Here are the top 25 US cities, according to WalletHub's ranking: