*We've updated our statistics to use the case entry date, aligning better with our advanced bankruptcy report and case list data for subscribed BankruptcyWatch users.

Our Analysis of the Bankruptcy Statistics (Updated March 16th, 2026)

Week 11 showed mixed results, with consumer bankruptcies rising about 10% to 11,654 filings while business filings declined roughly 12% to 136 cases compared with the same week last year. Chapter 7 filings, a lifeline for many struggling households, were up 11.68% year-over-year (6,979 in 2025 to 7,794 in 2026). Chapter 13 filings, allowing individuals to restructure their debt, were up 7.46% year-over-year (3,592 in 2025 to 3,860 in 2026). Chapter 11 filings, often used by businesses dealing with insolvency, were down 10.74% year-over-year (149 in 2025 to 133 in 2026).

What We Are Reading

Want to know about the news articles that caught our eye this week? Start here.

• Radio station owner Cumulus Media files to cut $697M debt - Radio station owner Cumulus Media filed Chapter 11 for the second time in a decade, seeking to eliminate roughly $600M of its $697M debt as streaming and digital audio continue to crush traditional radio audiences and ad revenues.
• Retailers at risk in 2026: Bankruptcy Edition - Forbes predicts at least three major U.S. specialty retailers will file bankruptcy in 2026, driven by high interest rates, AI disruption, and aggressive competition. Warning that even financially stable chains like Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy must adapt or face pressure.
• First Brands creditors reckon with dwindling chance of repayment - Creditors of bankrupt auto parts maker First Brands are facing the reality that upcoming asset sales may yield less than $200M against more than $12B in debt, leaving fraud victims and lenders with steep losses.
• Three major banks sued after subprime auto lender went bankrupt - Investors sued three major banks for allegedly ignoring "giant red flags" at Tricolor Holdings, a subprime auto lender that collapsed amid fraud allegations involving double-pledging of collateral across multiple bank credit lines.
• U.S. home foreclosures impact nearly 40K homeowners - U.S. foreclosure filings rose for the 12th consecutive month in February, hitting nearly 40K properties, a 20% jump from last year, as housing affordability continues to squeeze homeowners

AI Analysis of this Week's Bankruptcy Statistics

We exported our dataset containing the daily filing numbers for every chapter and district to different AI models and asked for an analysis. Below are the exact results for each model.

Claude 4.6 Opus Extended Analysis of the Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of This Week's National Filings During Week 11 of 2026, the nation recorded 11,790 total bankruptcy filings across all chapters and districts. Chapter 7 liquidation filings dominated with 7,794 cases, representing 66.1% of all filings for the week. Chapter 13 wage earner filings accounted for 3,860 cases or 32.7% of the weekly total, while Chapter 11 business reorganizations added 133 filings at just 1.1%. Chapter 12 family farmer and fisherman filings remained minimal with only 3 cases nationwide. This weekly total represents a substantial increase compared to the same week in 2022, when only 7,947 filings were recorded nationally.
2. An Interesting Fact About This Week's Filings The most striking observation is that year-to-date Chapter 11 business reorganization filings have surged 263.5% compared to the same 11-week period in 2022, rising from 658 to 2,392 cases. This week also showed a healthy 3.7% increase from the previous week's 11,365 filings, rebounding from what appeared to be a temporary dip. Chapter 7 filings represented an unusually high proportion at 66.1% this week, compared to the typical 60-62% range seen in recent periods. The year-to-date national total of 122,652 filings through 11 weeks represents a 66.7% increase over the 73,584 filings recorded during the same period in 2022. Central California recorded 604 total filings this week, marking it as the single busiest district in the nation.
3. Overview of This Week's District-Level Filings Central California led all federal judicial districts with 604 total filings during Week 11, followed by Florida Middle with 552 filings. Northern Illinois posted a strong 504 filings, while Northern Georgia recorded 432 cases and Eastern Michigan saw 414 filings. Northern Ohio contributed 331 filings, with Eastern Virginia at 302 and New Jersey at 288 rounding out the major metropolitan contributors. The top 10 districts collectively accounted for approximately 35% of all national filings, demonstrating significant concentration in urban judicial districts. These district-level numbers reflect where Americans are experiencing the most acute financial distress requiring court intervention.
4. Geographic Disparities in Filings The geographic disparity in bankruptcy filings is remarkable, with Central California's 604 filings representing over 201 times the volume of Alaska's mere 3 filings during Week 11. Several territories including Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands recorded zero filings this week. Vermont reported only 8 filings while Wyoming had just 7, creating a stark contrast with high-volume coastal and midwestern districts. The District of Columbia recorded only 10 filings, Maine saw 11, and South Dakota had 13 for the week. This disparity reflects not only population differences but also regional economic conditions, local legal practices, and varying state exemption laws that influence filing decisions.
5. Current Year Focus The 2026 calendar year has begun with exceptional filing activity, with the first 11 weeks generating 122,652 total bankruptcy cases. This year-to-date total already surpasses the pace of every preceding year, with 2025 recording 107,880 filings and 2024 posting 96,813 during the same 11-week period. Chapter 7 filings for 2026 have reached 75,231 through 11 weeks, while Chapter 13 filings total 44,964 year-to-date. Chapter 11 business reorganization filings stand at 2,392 year-to-date, indicating significant corporate financial stress continuing into 2026. The current trajectory suggests 2026 will establish new records for annual bankruptcy volume if present trends continue through the remaining 41 weeks.
6. Comparative Analysis with Previous Years Week 11 filing totals have grown consistently each year, rising from 7,947 in 2022 to 8,888 in 2023, then 9,866 in 2024, 10,726 in 2025, and now 11,790 in 2026. This represents a cumulative increase of 48.4% over the four-year period, reflecting sustained economic pressure on households and businesses. Year-over-year growth from 2022 to 2023 reached 17.7%, moderating to 13.2% from 2023 to 2024, then 11.7% from 2024 to 2025. Full-year totals paint an equally compelling picture: 2022 saw 378,326 filings, 2023 recorded 445,178, 2024 reached 503,758, and 2025 totaled 562,598 cases. If 2026 maintains its current 13.7% growth pace over 2025, projected annual filings could reach approximately 640,000 cases.
7. Analyzing Filings Per Capita The national bankruptcy filing rate for Week 11 of 2026 stands at 3.47 filings per 100,000 population, reflecting meaningful financial distress across the country. When annualized, this translates to approximately 170.5 filings per 100,000 Americans, up substantially from 113.6 per 100,000 in 2022. Alabama leads states with a rate of 8.55 per 100,000 for the week, followed by Mississippi at 7.24 and Tennessee at 7.23 per 100,000. At the opposite end, Alaska shows just 0.43 per 100,000, Maine reports 0.79, and New Hampshire records 1.14 per 100,000 weekly. These disparities reveal that southern states experience bankruptcy rates roughly eight to ten times higher than their northern and rural counterparts.
8. Analyzing the Changing Filings Per Capita The per capita bankruptcy filing rate has increased substantially between 2022 and 2026, from 2.39 per 100,000 weekly in Week 11 of 2022 to 3.47 per 100,000 in 2026. Year-over-year per capita growth was 11.2% from 2022 to 2023, then 10.3% from 2023 to 2024, moderating to 8.1% from 2024 to 2025. The pace accelerated again in 2026, with Week 11 showing 9.6% per capita growth compared to the same week in 2025. This growth significantly outpaces population increases of approximately 0.5% annually, indicating genuine deterioration in household financial health. The sustained upward trend in per capita rates suggests economic pressures may be intensifying rather than stabilizing for many American families.
9. Forecast for Expected Filing Numbers for the Rest of the Year Based on the first 11 weeks of 2026 and applying the 13.7% growth rate relative to 2025's patterns, the projected full-year total reaches approximately 640,000 filings. Linear regression analysis of the 2022-2025 annual totals, which shows an exceptionally strong fit with an R-squared of 0.999, projects approximately 625,000 filings for 2026. The more aggressive projection accounts for 2026's elevated early-year momentum, while the conservative model reflects the historical pattern of decelerating growth rates. Either scenario represents an 11-14% increase over 2025's 562,598 total filings, continuing the established upward trajectory. Weekly filing averages should remain between 10,500 and 12,500 for the remaining 41 weeks, with seasonal peaks expected during spring and early fall periods.
10. Forecast of Trends for Increasing Filings After 2025 The consistent linear growth pattern of approximately 61,000 additional filings annually projects totals of 686,000 for 2027, 748,000 for 2028, and potentially 870,000 by 2030. Average annual growth of 14.2% from 2022 through 2025 suggests the upward trajectory reflects structural economic factors rather than temporary disruptions. The dramatic surge in Chapter 11 business reorganizations, with year-to-date filings up 263.5% since 2022, indicates corporate distress that typically precedes broader employment impacts and consumer filing increases. If current economic conditions persist, annual per capita rates could exceed 200 filings per 100,000 by 2028, compared to 114 per 100,000 in 2022. While economic interventions or policy changes could moderate these projections, the established trend momentum suggests elevated bankruptcy activity will characterize the American financial landscape for the remainder of this decade.

ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking Pro Analysis of this Week's Bankruptcy Statistics

1. For week 11 of 2026 (the latest fully completed week in the updated file), the national total was 11,790 filings. The chapter breakdown this week was 7,794 (liquidation chapter), 3,860 (consumer repayment chapter), 133 (business reorganization), and 3 (family-farm), which sums to 11,790. Compared with the prior week (week 10 of 2026) at 11,365, filings rose by 425. Compared with the same week last year (week 11 of 2025) at 10,726, filings were higher by 1,064. Relative to week 11 of 2024 at 9,866, this week was higher by 1,924.
2. The most striking shift from week 10 to week 11 is that the national increase of 425 was driven almost entirely by the liquidation chapter rising from 6,897 to 7,794 (up 897). Over the same week-to-week window, the consumer repayment chapter fell from 4,228 to 3,860 (down 368), and business reorganization dropped from 229 to 133 (down 96). The family-farm chapter also declined from 11 to 3 (down 8), reinforcing that the overall lift came from liquidation activity. As a share of the 11,790 total, liquidation alone contributed about two-thirds, with 7,794 outweighing 3,860 by 3,934 filings. Even year over year, the liquidation chapter rose from 6,979 in week 11 of 2025 to 7,794 in week 11 of 2026 (up 815), which explains much of the 1,064 national gain.
3. District activity was led by CAC with 604 filings, followed by FLM with 552 and ILN with 504 in week 11 of 2026. Next were GAN with 432 and MIE with 414, meaning the top five districts produced 2,506 of the 11,790 national filings. That top-five concentration is about 21.3% of all filings this week (2,506 out of 11,790), showing how much the national total depends on a handful of large districts. In the next tier, districts like OHN (331), VAE (302), NJ (288), FLS (286), and AZ (283) each contributed materially to the national 11,790. Within the leading district CAC, the mix was 514 liquidation, 80 consumer repayment, 10 business reorganization, and 0 family-farm, totaling 604.
4. The geographic gap was large: the top district at 604 exceeded multiple districts that recorded 0 filings (GU, NMI, and VI) by a full 604 filings in the same week. Even among districts with non-zero activity, the spread was steep, from AK at 3 and WY at 7 up to CAC at 604. That makes the top district about 201× larger than AK this week (604 versus 3), illustrating extreme concentration at the low end. The top ten districts together produced 3,996 filings, which is about 33.9% of the national 11,790 total. Because CAC (604) and FLM (552) alone sum to 1,156, a swing of just 100 filings across those two districts would move the national figure by nearly 0.8% of 11,790.
5. Through week 11 of 2026, the year-to-date national total is 122,652 filings, compared with 107,880 through week 11 of 2025 (a difference of 14,772). The 2026 year-to-date chapter totals are 75,231 liquidation, 44,964 consumer repayment, 2,392 business reorganization, and 65 family-farm, summing to 122,652. This latest week’s 11,790 represents about 9.6% of the year-to-date total (11,790 out of 122,652). The average week so far in 2026 is about 11,150 filings (122,652 divided by 11), and week 11’s 11,790 is above that by roughly 640. Put simply, the year is running hotter than last year at the same point, and week 11’s 11,790 keeps that gap over 107,880 intact.
6. Comparing the same week across recent years shows a consistent climb: week 11 totals were 8,888 (2023), 9,866 (2024), 10,726 (2025), and 11,790 (2026). The year-to-date pattern matches that direction, rising from 99,130 through week 11 of 2024 to 107,880 through week 11 of 2025 to 122,652 through week 11 of 2026. This week’s chapter mix also differs from 2025’s week 11, where the liquidation chapter was 6,979 and consumer repayment was 3,592, versus 7,794 and 3,860 in 2026. On a full-year basis, totals increased from 378,326 (2022) to 445,178 (2023) to 503,758 (2024) to 562,598 (2025). Week 11 of 2026 at 11,790 is consistent with that multi-year upward baseline even though individual weeks can still fluctuate around the year-to-date average of ~11,150.
7. Using week 11’s national total of 11,790, that equates to about 3.44 filings per 100,000 people using a 342,383,055 population benchmark. The liquidation chapter alone at 7,794 is about 2.28 per 100,000, while the consumer repayment chapter at 3,860 is about 1.13 per 100,000. The remaining chapters are small in per-person terms, with 133 and 3 contributing only a tiny fraction of the 11,790 total. This per-capita framing helps compare across time: week 11 of 2025 had 10,726, which is about 3.13 per 100,000 using the same benchmark. Even without changing the benchmark, the jump from 10,726 to 11,790 is visible both in raw filings (+1,064) and in the per-capita rate (~+0.31 per 100,000).
8. Week-to-week, per-capita filings rose from week 10’s 11,365 (about 3.32 per 100,000) to week 11’s 11,790 (about 3.44 per 100,000). That change is roughly +0.12 per 100,000, mirroring the raw increase of 425 filings. The driver of the per-capita rise was the liquidation chapter increasing from 6,897 to 7,794 (up 897), even as consumer repayment fell from 4,228 to 3,860 (down 368). Year over year for the same week, per-capita increased from week 11 of 2025’s 10,726 (about 3.13 per 100,000) to week 11 of 2026’s 11,790 (about 3.44 per 100,000). On a cumulative basis, 2026 through week 11 is 122,652 versus 107,880 in 2025 (up 14,772), indicating the higher per-capita pace is not just a one-week blip.
9. A simple run-rate forecast using the 2026 year-to-date average of about 11,150 filings per week (122,652 ÷ 11) implies a full-year total near 579,809 if sustained across the remaining 41 weeks. A higher recent-pace scenario using the last four weeks’ average of about 12,218 per week would imply roughly 623,580 for the year. For context, 2025 finished at 562,598, so even the lower run-rate estimate (~579,809) would exceed 2025 by about 17,211. The difference between the two 2026 scenarios is substantial (about 43,770 filings), which reflects how sensitive annual totals are to weeks like 11,790 versus quieter weeks earlier in the year. A reasonable range based on observed weekly data is roughly 580k to 624k filings for 2026, anchored by the actual year-to-date 122,652 and the latest week 11,790.
10. The post-2025 trajectory already looks upward because annual totals rose from 378,326 (2022) to 445,178 (2023) to 503,758 (2024) to 562,598 (2025). Those increases imply a roughly 14.1% average annual growth rate from 2022 to 2025, even though the year-to-year growth moderated from about 17.7% (2023 vs 2022) to 11.7% (2025 vs 2024). Early 2026 data reinforces a higher baseline, with 122,652 filings through week 11 compared with 107,880 at the same point in 2025, plus a latest-week level of 11,790 versus 10,726 a year earlier. If filings keep expanding after 2025 but at a slower pace than the earlier surge, a path that stays above 2025’s 562,598 still looks plausible, especially if 2026 lands in the ~579,809 to ~623,580 band. The most important trend signal in the data is that the same-week totals have climbed from 8,888 (week 11 of 2023) to 9,866 (2024) to 10,726 (2025) to 11,790 (2026), which points to continued upward pressure beyond 2025 even with week-to-week volatility.

Claude 4.6 Sonnet Extended Analysis of the Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of This Week's National Filings Week 11 of 2026 recorded a national total of 11,790 bankruptcy filings across all chapter types and all federal judicial districts in the country. Chapter 7 liquidation filings led all categories with 7,794 cases, representing approximately 66.1% of the weekly total. Chapter 13 wage-earner repayment filings contributed 3,860 cases, accounting for roughly 32.7% of all filings for the week. Chapter 11 business reorganization filings added 133 cases, while Chapter 12 family farmer and fisherman filings represented just 3 cases — the lowest Chapter 12 count recorded so far in 2026. Together, all four chapter types account for the complete national total of 11,790 filings for this latest completed week.
2. An Interesting Fact About This Week's Filings Week 11 of 2026 is the first week of the year in which Chapter 7 filings surpassed 7,700 cases outside of the anomalous spike weeks — specifically Weeks 5 and 9 — suggesting that elevated Chapter 7 activity is becoming a more consistent baseline rather than a product of calendar distortions. The 7,794 Chapter 7 filings this week represent a 13.0% increase over the 6,897 recorded in Week 10 and a 11.6% increase over the 6,979 filed in the same week of 2025. At the same time, Chapter 13 filings dipped to 3,860 from 4,228 in Week 10, a 8.7% weekly decline, indicating that consumer preferences may be shifting slightly toward full liquidation over repayment plans. Chapter 11 business filings fell sharply from 229 in Week 10 to just 133 in Week 11, the lowest Chapter 11 count of 2026 so far, suggesting the prior week's elevated business filing pace was partly a timing effect. Notably, the 11,790 national total for Week 11 marks a 3.7% increase over the 11,365 recorded in Week 10 of 2026, extending the general upward drift in filings seen across this year.
3. An Overview of This Week's District-Level Filings The Central District of California led all judicial districts in Week 11 of 2026 with 604 total filings, followed by the Middle District of Florida at 552 and the Northern District of Illinois at 504. The Northern District of Georgia recorded 432 filings, and the Eastern District of Michigan contributed 414, rounding out the five busiest districts for the week. These five leading districts combined for 2,506 filings, representing roughly 21.3% of the 11,790 national total — a concentration nearly identical to the pattern observed in Week 10. Within the top districts, Chapter 7 filings dominated: the Central District of California alone recorded 514 Chapter 7 cases, the Middle District of Florida 432, and the Northern District of Illinois 328 — together accounting for 1,274 Chapter 7 filings from just three districts. At the low end, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands each recorded zero filings, while Alaska reported just 3 and Wyoming only 7, underscoring the extreme geographic concentration of bankruptcy activity across the country.
4. Geographic Disparities in Filings The filing disparity between the most and least active districts in Week 11, 2026 is stark, spanning from 604 in the Central District of California to zero in three territories — a ratio of effectively infinite scale driven by the complete absence of filings in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Chapter 13 filings show particularly sharp regional clustering, with the Northern District of Illinois recording 175 Chapter 13 cases, the Northern District of Georgia contributing 140, and the Southern District of Florida adding 127 — three districts alone accounting for 442 of the 3,860 national Chapter 13 filings. This Southern and Midwestern concentration of Chapter 13 activity reflects longstanding regional patterns in which high-volume bankruptcy courts, supportive trustee infrastructures, and cultural preferences for debt repayment over liquidation drive elevated Chapter 13 utilization. The five lowest-reporting jurisdictions — Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Alaska, and Wyoming — collectively recorded just 13 filings, less than 0.1% of the 11,790 national total. These persistent geographic disparities confirm that macroeconomic stress translates into bankruptcy filings in highly uneven ways, shaped by population size, local legal practice, and the accessibility of bankruptcy courts.
5. Current Year Focus Through 11 completed weeks of 2026, the national year-to-date total stands at 122,652 bankruptcy filings, yielding a weekly average of approximately 11,150 cases per week. Chapter 7 filings have contributed 75,231 cases year-to-date, Chapter 13 has added 44,964, Chapter 11 has reached 2,392, and Chapter 12 has recorded 65 cases across the first 11 weeks. The weekly totals in 2026 have ranged widely, from a low of 9,011 in Week 1 to a high of 15,290 in Week 9, reflecting both seasonal calendar effects and real underlying volatility in filing demand. Excluding the two spike weeks (Week 5 at 14,156 and Week 9 at 15,290), the remaining nine weeks of 2026 have averaged approximately 10,705 filings per week, suggesting the true underlying run rate is moderately lower than the simple weekly average implies. Week 11's count of 11,790 is broadly in line with the non-spike average, reinforcing that the filing environment in 2026 remains elevated but is not broadly accelerating beyond the established trend.
6. Comparative Analysis With Previous Years Week 11 filings have risen every year in the dataset, climbing from 7,947 in 2022 to 8,888 in 2023, 9,866 in 2024, 10,726 in 2025, and now 11,790 in 2026. The year-over-year increase from Week 11 of 2025 to Week 11 of 2026 is 1,064 filings, or 9.9%, representing the fourth consecutive annual increase for this reference week. The cumulative growth from 2022 to 2026 for Week 11 alone is 3,843 additional filings, a 48.4% increase in just four years. Year-to-date through 11 weeks, the 2026 total of 122,652 surpasses the equivalent 2025 figure of 107,880 by 14,772 filings (+13.7%), and exceeds the 2022 year-to-date figure of 73,584 by nearly 49,068 filings — a 66.7% cumulative increase over the same four-year span. Full-year totals have grown from 378,326 in 2022 to 562,598 in 2025, with annual growth rates of 17.7%, 13.2%, and 11.7% in successive years — a decelerating but unbroken upward march.
7. Analyzing the Filings Per Capita Based on a U.S. population of approximately 335 million, the 11,790 filings in Week 11 of 2026 translate to a per-capita rate of approximately 3.52 filings per 100,000 residents — the highest Week 11 per-capita rate recorded in the dataset. This exceeds the 3.20 per 100,000 recorded in Week 11 of 2025, the 2.95 in 2024, the 2.65 in 2023, and the 2.37 in 2022, marking four years of uninterrupted per-capita growth for this reference week. Chapter 13 filings in Week 11 of 2026 alone represent a per-capita rate of approximately 1.15 per 100,000 residents, compared to 1.07 in 2025, 1.03 in 2024, 0.94 in 2023, and 0.82 in 2022 — a 40.2% increase in Chapter 13 per-capita utilization over four years. Averaged across all 11 completed weeks of 2026, the national weekly filing rate stands at approximately 3.33 per 100,000 residents, compared to 2.93 per 100,000 during the same period in 2025 — a 13.7% year-over-year increase in the average weekly per-capita rate. These figures underscore that bankruptcy is becoming an increasingly common response to financial distress across the American population, not merely a reflection of population growth.
8. Analyzing the Changing Filings Per Capita The per-capita filing rate for Week 11 increased by 0.32 per 100,000 from 2025 to 2026, building on gains of 0.25 from 2024 to 2025, 0.30 from 2023 to 2024, and 0.28 from 2022 to 2023, creating a pattern of relatively consistent annual per-capita growth of roughly 0.25 to 0.35 per 100,000 per year. The absolute per-capita gain from 2022 (2.37) to 2026 (3.52) represents an increase of 1.15 per 100,000 residents over four years, meaning that the per-capita filing rate for this week has grown by 48.5% since 2022. Chapter 13's per-capita growth has been particularly notable — rising from 0.82 per 100,000 in Week 11 of 2022 to 1.15 in 2026, a 40.2% increase that reflects growing reliance on court-supervised repayment among households that retain regular income but cannot manage existing debt loads. The uptick in Chapter 7's per-capita contribution is even sharper: with 7,794 Chapter 7 filings this week against a national population of 335 million, the Chapter 7 per-capita rate for Week 11, 2026 stands at approximately 2.33 per 100,000, compared to 1.53 in Week 11 of 2022 — a 52% increase. If the current 2026 average weekly per-capita rate of 3.33 per 100,000 is sustained through year-end, the annualized per-capita rate for 2026 would reach approximately 173 filings per 100,000 residents, compared to roughly 168 per 100,000 for the full year of 2025.
9. Forecast for the Rest of 2026 With 122,652 filings recorded through 11 weeks of 2026 and a resulting weekly average of approximately 11,150 cases, projecting that average across the remaining 41 weeks of the year yields an estimated 457,157 additional filings. Adding this to the 122,652 already on record produces a full-year 2026 forecast of approximately 579,809 total national bankruptcy filings. This projected full-year total would represent an increase of approximately 17,211 cases — or about 3.1% — over the 2025 full-year total of 562,598. However, because Weeks 5 and 9 were anomalously elevated at 14,156 and 15,290 respectively, a more conservative projection using a weekly average of 10,700 for the remaining 41 weeks would generate a lower-bound full-year estimate of approximately 561,372 — roughly flat with 2025. Under either scenario, 2026 is on course to be at or above the 2025 full-year total, and the mid-range forecast of approximately 580,000 filings would extend the unbroken annual growth streak through a fifth consecutive year.
10. Forecasting Filing Trends Beyond 2025Annual bankruptcy filings have grown without interruption from 378,326 in 2022 to 562,598 in 2025, with successive growth rates of 17.7%, 13.2%, and 11.7% — a trajectory that, while decelerating, shows no sign of reversal. Applying the implied trend of approximately 10% annual growth to the 2025 base projects a 2026 full-year total in the range of 580,000 to 620,000, consistent with the data-driven forecast of approximately 579,809 generated from 2026's year-to-date weekly average. For 2027 and 2028, assuming growth rates continue to moderate toward 8–9% annually, national filings could approach 630,000 to 680,000 — volumes that would begin to rival the peak filing environment of the mid-2000s before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act curtailed volumes in 2005. Chapter 11 business filings have grown from 3,937 in 2022 to 8,620 in 2025, with 2,392 already recorded through just 11 weeks of 2026 — a pace that, if sustained, would yield a full-year 2026 Chapter 11 total exceeding 11,000 cases and surpassing 2025's record by roughly 28%. Without a meaningful shift in macroeconomic conditions — such as a sustained decline in interest rates, real wage growth that outpaces household debt service costs, or targeted government debt-relief programs — the structural pressures fueling bankruptcy filings appear firmly entrenched and poised to drive continued growth well beyond 2025 and into the second half of this decade.

ChatGPT 5.4 Analysis of this Week's Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Week 11 of 2026 recorded 2,040 national filings in the updated file. The chapter breakdown was 1,329 under Chapter 7, 32 under Chapter 11, 0 under Chapter 12, and 679 under Chapter 13. That total was down 9,325 from week 10 of 2026, when national filings were 11,365. It was also below week 11 of 2025 at 10,726 by 8,686 filings. Relative to week 11 of 2024 at 9,866, the latest week was lower by 7,826 filings.
2. The most interesting fact this week is how concentrated the filing mix remained even in a sharply lower-volume week of 2,040 filings. Chapter 7 alone made up 1,329 filings, or about 65.1% of the national total, while Chapter 13 added 679, or about 33.3%. That means Chapters 7 and 13 together accounted for 2,008 of 2,040 filings, leaving only 32 filings for Chapters 11 and 12 combined. Chapter 11 contributed 32 and Chapter 12 contributed 0, so business and farm-related activity was essentially absent in numeric terms this week. Even with the week-over-week drop from 11,365 to 2,040, the filing profile still looked overwhelmingly consumer-driven.
3. District-level filings were led by FLM with 107, followed by CAC with 93, ILN with 81, GAN with 76, and MIE with 66. The next highest districts were OHS with 61, MD with 60, OHN with 58, NJ with 57, and VAE with 53. Those top 10 districts combined for 712 filings, which was about 34.9% of the 2,040 national total. At the low end, DC, LAM, and WVN each had 1 filing, while AK, HI, and NH each had 2. Five districts posted 0 filings, namely GU, ME, NMI, VI, and VT.
4. Geographic disparities were substantial because the leading district, FLM, had 107 filings while 5 districts had none at all. The gap between FLM at 107 and DC at 1 was 106 filings, and the gap between CAC at 93 and AK at 2 was 91. The top 5 districts produced 423 filings, which was about 20.7% of the national total of 2,040. By contrast, the bottom 10 nonzero districts together produced only 21 filings, or about 1.0% of the total. This means a relatively small group of districts carried a large share of activity even in a week with unusually low national volume.
5. For the current year, filings through week 11 of 2026 totaled 112,902. That is 5,022 higher than the 107,880 recorded through week 11 of 2025, a gain of about 4.7%. It is also 16,089 above the 96,813 recorded through week 11 of 2024, a gain of about 16.6%. The 2026 average through 11 weeks is about 10,264 filings per week, compared with about 9,807 through the same point in 2025. Even after the latest week fell to 2,040, the year-to-date total still remains ahead of prior years.
6. Compared with previous years, week 11 had been rising steadily before this latest reading. The week 11 totals were 7,947 in 2022, 8,888 in 2023, 9,866 in 2024, 10,726 in 2025, and then 2,040 in 2026. That places the latest week 5,907 below 2022, 6,848 below 2023, 7,826 below 2024, and 8,686 below 2025. On a full-year basis, national filings rose from 378,326 in 2022 to 445,178 in 2023, 503,758 in 2024, and 562,598 in 2025. The longer pattern still shows annual growth through 2025, but the latest weekly figure is an obvious break from the earlier week-11 trend.
7. Using the U.S. resident population estimate of 341,784,857 for July 1, 2025, this week’s 2,040 filings equal about 0.60 filings per 100,000 residents. That is also about 5.97 filings per 1 million residents for the week. Through 11 weeks, the 2026 cumulative total of 112,902 works out to about 33.0 filings per 100,000 residents. On that basis, the latest week was far lighter than the year-to-date pace implied by the first 11 weeks taken together.
8. The per-capita trend changed sharply in the latest week because week 10 of 2026 had 11,365 filings, or about 3.32 per 100,000 residents, while week 11 fell to about 0.60 per 100,000. That is a drop of roughly 2.73 filings per 100,000 residents from one week to the next. Week 11 of 2025, at 10,726 filings, was about 3.14 per 100,000 residents, so the latest week was lower by about 2.54 per 100,000 on a year-over-year basis. Week 11 of 2024, at 9,866 filings, was about 2.89 per 100,000 residents, which is still much higher than the current 0.60 reading. The longer-run per-capita trend through 2025 had been rising, but week 11 of 2026 represents a sharp interruption in that pattern.
9. A simple forecast for the rest of 2026 still points to growth, but the range is wider because week 11 came in at 2,040. In 2022 through 2025, the first 11 weeks represented about 19.2% of each full-year total on average, and applying that share to 2026’s year-to-date total of 112,902 implies a full-year total near 585,865. That would leave about 472,963 filings for the remaining 41 weeks of the year. A second method, annualizing the current 11-week average of about 10,264, gives roughly 533,719 filings for all of 2026. Taking both methods together, a reasonable weekly-data forecast is a full-year result somewhere around 534,000 to 586,000 filings.
10. The trend after 2025 still leans upward on a year-to-date basis, even though week 11 itself was exceptionally weak at 2,040. Through week 11, 2026 has 112,902 filings versus 107,880 at the same point in 2025, so the current year is ahead by 5,022. If 2026 ends near the forecast band of 534,000 to 586,000, it would range from about 28,598 below to 23,267 above the 2025 full-year total of 562,598. That means the post-2025 trend is no longer a clean straight-line increase, because the latest weekly reading materially softens the trajectory. Even so, the broader comparison still suggests that filings after 2025 can remain elevated relative to 2024, especially if upcoming weeks return closer to the earlier 2026 range of 9,011 to 15,290 rather than staying near 2,040.