Cities With The Most Debt Collection Accounts

August 10, 2025 11:59 pm
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Benefits of Accounts Receivable Debt Collection Through an Agency

 

When someone falls behind on loan or credit payments for an extended period, the lender may sell the debt to a collection agency. This helps the original creditor recover some of the money right away and gives the collection agency the authority to pursue repayment from the borrower. Having an account in collections can significantly damage your credit score and remain on your credit report for up to seven years.

To find out which cities are struggling the most with debt in collections, WalletHub analyzed 100 major cities using four key metrics including the average number of collection accounts, the average balance per account, and how both figures changed between Q1 and Q2 of 2025.

“If you have an account in collections, it’s important to immediately come up with a plan to handle it. For example, you might create an extremely strict budget and set aside money every month for paying off the debt. Alternatively, you might settle with the collection agency, work with them to create a debt management plan, or wait out the statute of limitations if you’re close to it and have not made any payments. You should also familiarize yourself with what debt collectors are and aren’t legally allowed to do, so you can report any bad behavior.”

CHIP LUPO, WALLETHUB ANALYST

Table of Contents

Main Findings

11100100
City Rank
Garland, TX 1
Fort Worth, TX 2
Arlington, TX 3
Lubbock, TX 4
Henderson, NV 5
Austin, TX 6
Reno, NV 7
Plano, TX 8
Houston, TX 9
Dallas, TX 10
Laredo, TX 11
Toledo, OH 12
Omaha, NE 13
North Las Vegas, NV 14
Las Vegas, NV 15
Corpus Christi, TX 16
San Antonio, TX 17
Hialeah, FL 18
Tampa, FL 19
El Paso, TX 20
Fremont, CA 21
Irving, TX 22
Phoenix, AZ 23
Scottsdale, AZ 24
Fort Wayne, IN 25
Oklahoma City, OK 26
Seattle, WA 27
Memphis, TN 28
New Orleans, LA 29
Tucson, AZ 30
Baton Rouge, LA 31
Irvine, CA 32
Orlando, FL 33
Anchorage, AK 34
St. Louis, MO 35
Glendale, AZ 36
Santa Ana, CA 37
Colorado Springs, CO 38
Nashville, TN 39
Spokane, WA 40
Louisville, KY 41
Boise, ID 42
Jacksonville, FL 43
Birmingham, AL 44
Columbus, OH 45
Raleigh, NC 46
Wichita, KS 47
Madison, WI 48
Indianapolis, IN 49
Norfolk, VA 50
Kansas City, MO 51
Tulsa, OK 52
Bakersfield, CA 53
Anaheim, CA 54
Riverside, CA 55
Durham, NC 56
Charlotte, NC 57
Pittsburgh, PA 58
Atlanta, GA 59
Lincoln, NE 60
Stockton, CA 61
Sacramento, CA 62
Albuquerque, NM 63
Richmond, VA 64
Chesapeake, VA 65
Philadelphia, PA 66
Chandler, AZ 67
New York, NY 68
Virginia Beach, VA 69
Portland, OR 70
Los Angeles, CA 71
Mesa, AZ 72
Oakland, CA 73
San Diego, CA 74
Aurora, CO 75
Cleveland, OH 76
Milwaukee, WI 77
Fresno, CA 78
San Bernardino, CA 79
Gilbert, AZ 80
Denver, CO 81
Cincinnati, OH 82
Greensboro, NC 83
Long Beach, CA 84
Chula Vista, CA 85
Buffalo, NY 86
Minneapolis, MN 87
Baltimore, MD 88
Jersey City, NJ 89
Des Moines, IA 90
Miami, FL 91
Newark, NJ 92
Chicago, IL 93
Detroit, MI 94
San Francisco, CA 95
Washington, DC 96
Boston, MA 97
San Jose, CA 98
Honolulu, HI 99
Winston-Salem, NC 100

Cities With the Most Collection Accounts

Overall Rank* City Total Score Collection Accounts Status Rank Change in Average Collection Accounts Rank
1 Garland, TX 71.46 6 10
2 Fort Worth, TX 71.18 1 29
3 Arlington, TX 70.85 9 5
4 Lubbock, TX 70.14 7 13
5 Henderson, NV 69.73 2 44
6 Austin, TX 68.10 10 18
7 Reno, NV 67.50 5 75
8 Plano, TX 67.38 4 83
9 Houston, TX 64.70 13 45
10 Dallas, TX 63.47 12 70
11 Laredo, TX 63.27 3 95
12 Toledo, OH 63.09 21 8
13 Omaha, NE 62.02 15 35
14 North Las Vegas, NV 61.67 19 16
15 Las Vegas, NV 61.58 16 34
16 Corpus Christi, TX 61.58 8 91
17 San Antonio, TX 61.37 14 77
18 Hialeah, FL 59.25 40 2
19 Tampa, FL 59.07 22 23
20 El Paso, TX 58.91 25 20
21 Fremont, CA 58.77 33 11
22 Irving, TX 58.59 11 97
23 Phoenix, AZ 58.58 17 80
24 Scottsdale, AZ 58.50 18 56
25 Fort Wayne, IN 57.91 44 4
26 Oklahoma City, OK 57.65 20 65
27 Seattle, WA 56.62 42 12
28 Memphis, TN 56.10 26 47
29 New Orleans, LA 55.81 24 74
30 Tucson, AZ 55.65 28 36
31 Baton Rouge, LA 55.28 30 39
32 Irvine, CA 55.20 27 50
33 Orlando, FL 55.17 35 32
34 Anchorage, AK 54.95 31 42
35 St. Louis, MO 53.66 72 1
36 Glendale, AZ 53.55 43 30
37 Santa Ana, CA 53.44 41 37
38 Colorado Springs, CO 53.38 52 17
39 Nashville, TN 53.34 37 62
40 Spokane, WA 53.19 47 22
41 Louisville, KY 52.99 34 71
42 Boise, ID 52.99 57 14
43 Jacksonville, FL 52.97 36 72
44 Birmingham, AL 52.86 39 59
45 Columbus, OH 52.83 48 24
46 Raleigh, NC 52.66 45 28
47 Wichita, KS 52.58 38 68
48 Madison, WI 52.36 70 6
49 Indianapolis, IN 52.20 50 27
50 Norfolk, VA 51.76 79 3
51 Kansas City, MO 51.54 32 88
52 Tulsa, OK 51.40 23 94
53 Bakersfield, CA 50.96 53 38
54 Anaheim, CA 50.25 60 26
55 Riverside, CA 49.90 51 67
56 Durham, NC 49.63 82 9
57 Charlotte, NC 49.46 56 51
58 Pittsburgh, PA 49.12 64 33
59 Atlanta, GA 48.84 29 96
60 Lincoln, NE 48.70 66 41
61 Stockton, CA 48.58 59 52
62 Sacramento, CA 48.40 71 31
63 Albuquerque, NM 48.35 55 79
64 Richmond, VA 48.33 58 64
65 Chesapeake, VA 47.95 68 40
66 Philadelphia, PA 47.93 67 46
67 Chandler, AZ 47.68 62 61
68 New York, NY 47.52 80 25
69 Virginia Beach, VA 47.32 61 73
70 Portland, OR 46.87 75 49
71 Los Angeles, CA 46.39 63 85
72 Mesa, AZ 46.39 54 90
73 Oakland, CA 46.30 89 15
74 San Diego, CA 45.93 69 78
75 Aurora, CO 45.69 73 76
76 Cleveland, OH 45.52 76 66
77 Milwaukee, WI 44.76 81 58
78 Fresno, CA 44.52 74 86
79 San Bernardino, CA 44.48 78 82
80 Gilbert, AZ 44.40 49 98
81 Denver, CO 44.27 86 48
82 Cincinnati, OH 43.95 46 100
83 Greensboro, NC 43.83 85 57
84 Long Beach, CA 43.46 92 21
85 Chula Vista, CA 42.82 87 54
86 Buffalo, NY 42.80 88 55
87 Minneapolis, MN 42.56 84 84
88 Baltimore, MD 41.88 83 87
89 Jersey City, NJ 41.51 65 99
90 Des Moines, IA 41.00 77 93
91 Miami, FL 40.94 90 53
92 Newark, NJ 40.20 91 69
93 Chicago, IL 39.11 93 60
94 Detroit, MI 37.46 95 80
95 San Francisco, CA 36.63 97 43
96 Washington, DC 36.38 99 19
97 Boston, MA 36.19 96 63
98 San Jose, CA 35.78 94 89
99 Honolulu, HI 30.25 98 92
100 Winston-Salem, NC 18.67 100 7

Notes: *No. 1 = Most Collection Accounts
With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each city, where a rank of 1 represents the worst conditions for that category.

In-Depth Look at the Top Cities

Garland, TX

Garland, TX, is the city with the most collection accounts, and residents with collection accounts have an average of 3.6 each as of Q2 2025 the highest in the country. In addition, this average went up by around 3.4% from Q1 to Q2 2025, the 13th-highest percentage in the country. This is worrying as it shows that people are increasingly unable to pay their debts.

Despite having a higher number of collection accounts, Garland residents owe an average of $1,248 on each account in collections, the 16th-lowest balance among the 100 cities analyzed, which may point to smaller, more manageable debts. However, the average balance increased by over 4% between Q1 and Q2 2025, the 15th-highest percentage. This upward trend could indicate that financial pressures are building, even if individual balances remain relatively low for now.

Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth, TX, is the city with the second-most collection accounts. Among residents with collection accounts, the average is 3.6 per person as of Q2 2025. While Fort Worth has nearly as many collection accounts per person as Garland, the good news is that Fort Worth residents are increasing the number of collection accounts that they have at a slower rate. The number of collection accounts per person went up by around 2% between Q1 and Q2 2025, only the 33rd-highest percentage among the 100 cities in our study.

Fort Worth residents have the 42nd-highest average collection account balance in the country, at $1,496. The average balance increased by around 1.5% between Q1 and Q2 2025, the 36th-highest percentage. This shows that the city has more of a problem with paying off existing collection accounts than with letting new accounts fall into collections.

Arlington, TX

Arlington, TX, ranks third in our study, largely due to a sharp rise in both the number and balance of collection accounts between Q1 and Q2 2025. The average collection balance is $1,545, the 36th-highest in the country, and the average collection balance increased by around 5%, the 12th-highest among the 100 cities analyzed.

Residents with collection accounts in Arlington have an average of 3.4 accounts each, the eighth-highest overall. The number of collection accounts also rose by 4.1% during the same period, and was the eighth-highest in the country. These increases suggest that financial pressure on residents may be growing, both in the number of debts and the amounts owed.

Methodology

In order to determine the cities with the most collection accounts, WalletHub compared 100 of the largest cities across two key dimensions: 1) Collection Accounts Status and 2) Change in Average Collection Accounts. We evaluated those dimensions using 4 relevant metrics listed below with their corresponding weights, each metric being graded on a 100-point scale.

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.

Collection Accounts Status – Total Points: 75

  • Average No. of Collection Accounts in Q2 2025 (per Resident in Collections): Full Weight (~50.00 Points)
  • Average Collection Account Balance per Tradeline in Q2 2025: Half Weight (~25.00 Points)

Change in Average Collection Accounts – Total Points: 25

  • Change in Average No. of Collection Accounts (per Resident in Collections) from Q1 to Q2 2025: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)
  • Change in Average Collection Account Balance per Tradeline from Q1 to Q2 2025: Full Weight (~12.50 Points)

 

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of July 10, 2025 from WalletHub’s database.

 

https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-most-collection-accounts/139535

 

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