New WalletHub Study Ranks Montana Financial Stress

We've all experienced financial hardship before. Well, okay, maybe not everybody. I'm not sure if Fortune 500 kids ever had to stress over their finances, but a lot of us have had to at least live paycheck-to-paycheck at one point in our lives.

And of course, some folks out there run into brutally tough times.

WalletHub released a study analyzing financial stress levels for every state.

"The analysis examines factors such as average credit scores, changes in bankruptcy filings between March 2025 and March 2026, and the share of residents with accounts in distress." - WalletHub

Where Montana Ranked in Financial Stress

Looking at the individual categories, Montana scored high in a few categories: We checked in at #12 on "Change in Bankruptcy Filings From March 2025 to March 2026" and we were the best state in the nation in "Credit Score."

However, overall, Montana ranked 31st in financial stress with a score of 55.04, just below the national average, but still on the wrong side of the midpoint.

Kansas graded out as the state with the most people in financial distress, followed by Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina.

On the flip side, Maine had the fewest people in financial distress, followed by Rhode Island, Hawai'i, Vermont, Michigan, and my beautiful home state of Wisconsin.

Credit: WalletHub

When we look at our neighbors, there's a wide range of rankings. Wyoming was ranked 6th in the nation, North Dakota was ranked 19th, Oregon was ranked 33rd, Idaho was ranked 41st, and Washington was ranked 44th.