*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 May 4th, 2026)

Week 18 showed strong year-over-year growth, with consumer bankruptcies rising about 19% to 15,965 filings and business filings surging roughly 39% to 149 cases compared with the same week last year. Chapter 7 filings, a lifeline for many struggling households, were up 20% year over year (from 8,904 in 2025 to 10,696 in 2026). Chapter 13 filings, allowing individuals to restructure their debt, were up 10% year-over-year (4,546 in 2025 to 4,996 in 2026). Chapter 11 filings, often used by businesses facing insolvency, were up 43% year-over-year (from 100 in 2025 to 143 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 4.7 Opus Extended Analysis of the Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of this week's National filings. The country recorded a striking 15,841 total bankruptcy filings in the latest completed week, by far the highest week-18 figure in the entire five-year span of the dataset. Chapter 7 liquidations dominated at 10,696 filings, or roughly 67.5% of the national total — a record-setting weekly Chapter 7 reading for the dataset. Chapter 13 wage-earner reorganizations contributed 4,996 filings, about 31.5%, while Chapter 11 business reorganizations added 143 filings and Chapter 12 farm filings totaled just 6. Week-over-week, total filings surged 24.8% from the prior week's 12,692, a dramatic single-week jump that pushed volume well above the 2026 year-to-date weekly average of 11,993. Year-over-year, this represents a 16.8% increase compared with the same week in 2025, which posted 13,557 filings.
2. An interesting fact about this week's filings. The most striking detail is the explosive jump in Chapter 7 liquidations to 10,696, up 20.1% from the 8,904 in the same week of 2025 and nearly triple the 3,721 Chapter 7 filings recorded in week 18 of 2022. Chapter 11 business filings also accelerated to 143, a 43.0% year-over-year increase from the 100 filings in week 18 of 2025, signaling sustained pressure on businesses even as the previous week's Texas-driven cluster faded. The Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of Georgia tied for the Chapter 13 lead at 214 filings each, while Puerto Rico unexpectedly cracked the top Chapter 13 ranks with 125 filings — an unusual placement that suggests a regional surge. Chapter 12 farm filings remained tiny at just 6, scattered evenly across six different districts with one filing apiece. Together, these patterns suggest a calendar-driven push of filings, likely tied to month-end timing and renewed consumer financial stress.
3. An overview of this week's district-level filings with reference to actual district filing numbers. Combining all four chapters, the Middle District of Florida led the country with 777 filings, narrowly beating the Central District of California at 768, the largest combined weekly volume from any district in 2026 to date. The Northern District of Illinois followed at 592, the Eastern District of Michigan at 533, the Southern District of Florida at 508, the Northern District of Georgia at 485, the Eastern District of California at 392, the Northern District of Ohio at 384, New Jersey at 371, and the Northern District of Texas at 352. Looking at Chapter 7 alone, the Central District of California posted 664, the Middle District of Florida 619, the Eastern District of Michigan 382, the Northern District of Illinois 376, the Eastern District of California 330, and the Northern District of Ohio 319. On the Chapter 13 side, the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of Georgia each reached 214, followed by the Southern District of Florida at 201, the Eastern District of Michigan at 148, the Middle District of Florida at 146, and the Northern District of Alabama at 133. The top ten districts together produced about 5,162 filings, accounting for roughly 32.6% of the entire 15,841-filing national total.
4. Geographic (district) disparities in filings. The disparity between busy and quiet districts widened further this week: while the Middle District of Florida posted 777 total filings, the three U.S. territory districts (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands) again recorded zero. Other very low-volume districts included Alaska at 6 total filings, Vermont at 11, Wyoming at 13, the District of Columbia and South Dakota at 18 each, and Maine at 20. The southeastern Sun Belt and major metro districts of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio dominated the leaderboard, with New Jersey climbing to 371 total filings and Puerto Rico making an unusual top-ten Chapter 13 appearance at 125 filings. The Northern District of Texas (352) and the Eastern District of California (392) also surged this week, reflecting how a national volume spike tends to lift activity broadly rather than just in the usual hotspots. This pattern of concentration is structural, reflecting population, regional economic stress, and entrenched filing behaviors rather than a one-week anomaly.
5. Current year focus. Through the first 18 weeks of 2026, the country has logged 215,872 total filings, an average of 11,993 per week — already crossing the 200,000 threshold and continuing to climb steeply. The year began softer at 9,012 in week 1 but has trended firmly upward, with notable peaks of 14,157 in week 5, 15,290 in week 9, 14,380 in week 14, and now an even higher 15,841 in week 18. Chapter 7 has been the dominant engine of growth, climbing from 7,175 in week 15 to 7,942 in week 16, 8,275 in week 17, and finally 10,696 in week 18 — a 49.1% jump across just four weeks. Chapter 13 has also accelerated, moving from 4,203 in week 15 up to 4,996 in week 18, while Chapter 11 has been more volatile (164, 223, 135, then 143). The overall pattern for 2026 is a clearly higher baseline than any earlier year covered by the dataset, with the gap widening as the year progresses.
6. Comparative analysis with previous years. Looking at the same week 18 across years yields a striking upward trajectory: 6,592 in 2022, 7,794 in 2023, 11,602 in 2024, 13,557 in 2025, and 15,841 in 2026, a cumulative increase of about 140% over the four-year span. Annual growth rates for week 18 specifically were 18.2% (2023), 48.9% (2024), 16.9% (2025), and 16.8% (2026), showing remarkably consistent double-digit gains in three of the four years. The same upward trend appears in year-to-date totals through week 18: 128,431 in 2022, 148,815 in 2023, 170,617 in 2024, 190,123 in 2025, and 215,872 in 2026. That means 2026 is running about 13.5% ahead of 2025's pace at the same point on the calendar and roughly 68.1% ahead of where 2022 stood after 18 weeks. The combination of a dramatic single-week spike and a robust 16.8% year-over-year increase suggests the underlying drivers of filings are still intensifying in 2026.
7. Analyzing the filings per capita. Per-capita filing pressure varies dramatically across districts even after controlling for population. The Central District of California, with roughly 20 million residents, produced 768 total filings this week — about 38 per million residents. The Northern District of Georgia, with around 6.5 million residents, produced 485 filings, which works out to roughly 75 per million, nearly double Southern California's per-capita rate. The Northern District of Alabama (133 Chapter 13 filings) and the Middle District of Alabama (128 Chapter 13 filings) sit even higher on a per-resident basis, while the Western District of Tennessee's 122 Chapter 13 filings translate into one of the highest per-capita rates in the country. Adjusted for population, the heaviest filing pressure clearly concentrates across the southeastern Sun Belt, with Puerto Rico's unusual 125 Chapter 13 filings this week also marking a notably elevated per-capita reading.
8. Analyzing the changing filings per capita. Because U.S. population has grown only roughly 0.5–0.6% per year while filings have risen 17–49% annually since 2022 at this point on the calendar, the per-capita filing rate has climbed sharply over the past four years. Nationally, the latest week's 15,841 filings translate to about 46 per million residents, up from roughly 20 per million in week 18 of 2022 — an increase of about 130% in four years. Districts that were already filing-heavy have seen the steepest per-capita rises, especially the Middle District of Florida, whose 777 combined filings this week represent a marked step-up from its typical pre-pandemic weekly levels. In contrast, the lowest-filing jurisdictions (Alaska at 6, Vermont at 11, Wyoming at 13) remain essentially flat in per-capita terms and very low in absolute terms. The widening per-capita gap means financial distress is becoming more geographically concentrated rather than more evenly distributed year after year.
9. Forecast the expected filing numbers for the rest of the year. If the rest of 2026 follows 2025's seasonal pattern, the remaining 34 weeks (weeks 19 through 52) should produce roughly 423,000 additional filings, on top of the 215,872 already recorded — putting the full year near 639,000 total filings, compared with 562,627 in 2025. Using the year-to-date 2026 weekly average of 11,993 applied to the remaining 34 weeks yields a projection of about 408,000 more filings and a year-end total around 624,000. A more conservative scenario that uses the latest week's 15,841 pace would be unrealistic given typical seasonality, but accounting for the typical late-year holiday slowdown (week 52 of 2025 dropped to just 6,678) suggests a year-end landing near 625,000–640,000. Taken together, the most likely 2026 year-end range is approximately 625,000 to 645,000 total filings, with the central estimate near 635,000. That would represent roughly 11–14% growth over 2025's full-year total of 562,627.
10. Forecast the trends of increasing filings after 2025. The four-year trajectory of full-year totals (378,331 in 2022, 445,186 in 2023, 503,768 in 2024, 562,627 in 2025, and a projected ~635,000 in 2026) implies a compound annual growth rate of about 14% from 2022 through 2025, holding near 13% in 2026. If growth continues at a similar pace, annual increases could moderate slightly to about 8–10% in 2027 and 6–8% in 2028, putting filings into the 685,000–720,000 range by 2027 and the 730,000–775,000 range by 2028. The chapter mix is also likely to keep shifting: Chapter 7 has been growing fastest in absolute terms (up 20.1% year-over-year at week 18, from 8,904 to 10,696), and could approach 440,000–470,000 annual filings if the current pace holds. Chapter 13, propelled by southeastern Sun Belt districts that produced 214, 214, 201, 148, 146, 133, 128, 125, 122, and 122 filings this week alone, is likely to retain its steady 31–36% share of the national total. The biggest risk to this baseline remains a recession, credit-tightening shock, or commercial real estate crisis — any of which could push 2027 filings well above the smoothed projection rather than modestly below it.

ChatGPT 5.5 Thinking Pro Analysis of this Week's Bankruptcy Statistics

1. For the week ending May 4, 2026, the national filing total was 15,841. This row was marked as the latest fully completed week in the file, and the latest-week marker was handled as either text or a true-or-false value. This was 3,149 more filings than the 12,692 recorded in Week 17 of 2026. The chapter totals were 10,696 Chapter 7 filings, 4,996 Chapter 13 filings, 143 Chapter 11 filings, and 6 Chapter 12 filings. Chapter 7 made up 67.5% of the weekly total, while Chapter 13 made up 31.5%.
2. An interesting fact is that Week 18 of 2026 was higher than the same week in every earlier year in the file. Week 18 had 6,592 filings in 2022, 7,794 in 2023, 11,602 in 2024, 13,557 in 2025, and 15,841 in 2026. The 2026 figure was 2,284 higher than the 2025 Week 18 figure. That year-over-year increase was 16.8%. Chapter 7 filings rose by 1,792 from 8,904 in Week 18 of 2025 to 10,696 in Week 18 of 2026.
3. District-level filings were led by several large districts in Week 18 of 2026. Middle Florida recorded 777 filings, Central California recorded 768, and Northern Illinois recorded 592. Eastern Michigan followed with 533 filings, and Southern Florida had 508. Those 5 districts together accounted for 3,178 filings. That was 20.1% of the national weekly total of 15,841.
4. Geographic disparities were large across the 94 locations represented in the district data. Middle Florida’s 777 filings were 129.5 times Alaska’s 6 filings. Other low-volume locations included Vermont with 11 filings, Wyoming with 13, the District of Columbia with 18, and South Dakota with 18. Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands each had 0 filings in Week 18 of 2026. The top 10 districts together produced 5,162 filings, or 32.6% of the national total of 15,841.
5. Through Week 18, 2026 had 215,872 national filings. That equals an average of 11,992.9 filings per completed week. The Week 18 total of 15,841 was 3,848.1 filings above that 2026 year-to-date weekly average. Through the same 18-week point, 2025 had 190,123 filings. The 2026 year-to-date total was therefore 25,749 filings higher than 2025, a 13.5% increase.
6. Compared with previous years, Week 18 of 2026 continues the upward pattern in the weekly data. The Week 18 totals were 6,592 in 2022, 7,794 in 2023, 11,602 in 2024, 13,557 in 2025, and 15,841 in 2026. The 2026 Week 18 total was 140.3% higher than 2022. It was also 103.3% higher than 2023 and 36.5% higher than 2024. Through Week 18, the national count rose from 128,431 in 2022 to 215,872 in 2026.
7. On a national per-capita basis, 15,841 filings in Week 18 of 2026 equals about 46.3 filings per 1 million residents using the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 population estimate of 341,784,857. The comparable Week 18 rate for 2025 was about 39.7 filings per 1 million residents. That means the weekly filing rate increased by about 6.7 filings per 1 million residents from 2025 to 2026. Through Week 18, 2026 had about 631.6 filings per 1 million residents. Through Week 18 of 2025, the comparable rate was about 556.3 filings per 1 million residents.
8. The changing per-capita pattern shows that filing intensity has risen steadily across the weekly data. Through Week 18, the rate was about 375.8 filings per 1 million residents in 2022 using the same 341,784,857 population denominator. It rose to 435.4 in 2023, 499.2 in 2024, 556.3 in 2025, and 631.6 in 2026. The 2026 rate was therefore 255.8 filings per 1 million residents higher than the 2022 rate. The Week 18 weekly rate also rose from about 19.3 filings per 1 million residents in 2022 to 46.3 in 2026.
9. A simple forecast based on the first 18 completed weeks of 2026 points to about 623,630 filings for the full year. This uses the 2026 year-to-date average of 11,992.9 filings per week and extends it across 52 weeks. Since 215,872 filings were already recorded through Week 18, the remaining 34 weeks would contribute about 407,758 filings at that pace. The forecast is above the 562,627 filings recorded in 2025. It would imply about 61,003 more filings than 2025, or roughly 10.8% growth.
10. After 2025, the 2026 data through Week 18 suggests filings are still rising rather than flattening. The 2026 year-to-date weekly average of 11,992.9 is higher than the 2025 full-year weekly average of 10,819.8. Chapter 7 is a major part of the latest increase, rising from 8,904 filings in Week 18 of 2025 to 10,696 in Week 18 of 2026. Several districts also rose sharply from Week 18 of 2025 to Week 18 of 2026, including Middle Florida from 632 to 777, Southern Florida from 369 to 508, and Northern Illinois from 489 to 592. If the 2026 pace remains near 11,993 filings per week, post-2025 growth would likely remain led by Chapter 7 volume and high-growth districts in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas.

Claude 4.6 Sonnet Extended Analysis of the Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of This Week's National Filings For the week of May 4, 2026 — the eighteenth week of the year — a total of 15,841 bankruptcy filings were recorded across the United States, the highest single-week total of 2026 so far and a dramatic surge from the prior week's 12,692. Of those, 10,696 were Chapter 7 liquidation filings, representing 67.5% of all activity and marking the first time in 2026 that Chapter 7 filings alone have crossed the 10,000 threshold in a single week. Chapter 13 reorganization filings contributed 4,996 cases — also the highest Chapter 13 count of the year to date — representing 31.5% of the national total. Chapter 11 business restructuring filings came in at 143 for the week, while Chapter 12 agricultural filings registered just 6 cases, the lightest Chapter 12 reading in several weeks. Together, these four filing types account for the complete national total of 15,841 filings recorded during the week of May 4, 2026.
2. An Interesting Fact About This Week's Filings The most striking feature of the week of May 4, 2026 is the sheer magnitude of the Chapter 7 surge: at 10,696 cases, Chapter 7 filings this week have risen by 187.4% compared to the same week in 2022, when only 3,721 Chapter 7 cases were recorded — a near-tripling in just four years for a single chapter type in a single week. This week's total of 15,841 also exceeds the prior 2026 peak of 15,290 set during Week 9, making it the new high-water mark for the year and cementing a pattern where the year's largest filing weeks cluster in the early spring calendar. Week 18 has historically shown volatile year-over-year swings: the 2024 total of 11,602 represented a massive 48.9% jump over 2023's 7,794, and 2026 is now continuing that elevated trajectory with a further 16.8% gain over 2025's 13,557. The week-over-week surge of +24.8% from Week 17 (12,692) to Week 18 (15,841) is the largest single-week percentage increase recorded in 2026 so far, underscoring the volatility that characterizes early May in the filing calendar. Nine of the eighteen completed weeks of 2026 have now exceeded 12,000 filings — meaning the national total has been above that threshold fully half of the time this year, a level that would have represented an extreme outlier in 2022.
3. Overview of This Week's District-Level Filings District-level activity during the week of May 4, 2026 was notably elevated across the board, with the top ten districts each posting some of their highest individual totals of the year and two new entrants — the Eastern District of California and the District of New Jersey — claiming spots in the rankings. The Middle District of Florida led all districts with 777 total filings — 619 Chapter 7 and 146 Chapter 13 — edging out the Central District of California, which recorded 768 total filings driven by an exceptional 664 Chapter 7 cases alongside 93 Chapter 13 filings. The Northern District of Illinois claimed third place with 592 total filings, including 376 Chapter 7 and 214 Chapter 13, while the Eastern District of Michigan followed with 533 total filings (382 Chapter 7, 148 Chapter 13) and the Southern District of Florida contributed 508 total filings, notable for its 201 Chapter 13 cases. The Northern District of Georgia posted 485 total filings, and the Eastern District of California — a new entrant to the top ten this week — contributed 392 filings dominated by 330 Chapter 7 cases, reflecting a surge of consumer liquidation filings in the Central Valley and Sacramento regions. The Northern District of Ohio (384), the District of New Jersey (371, with a notable 15 Chapter 11 cases), and the Northern District of Texas (352) rounded out the top ten, completing a picture of elevated activity stretching from Florida to California.
4. Geographic Disparities in Filings Even in a high-volume week like May 4, 2026, the geographic disparity between the busiest and quietest districts is extraordinary: the Middle District of Florida recorded 777 filings while Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands each registered zero, and Alaska logged just 6 filings while Vermont recorded 11. The emergence of the Eastern District of California (392) in this week's top ten is a notable geographic shift, as this district covers the inland agricultural and suburban regions east of the Sierra Nevada and reflects economic stress spreading beyond the coastal metropolitan centers that typically dominate the rankings. The Northern District of Illinois's 214 Chapter 13 filings — tied with the Northern District of Georgia for the highest Chapter 13 count among all districts this week — points to the persistence of structured repayment-plan culture in the Chicago metropolitan area, where attorneys and courts have long favored Chapter 13 over outright liquidation. The District of New Jersey's 15 Chapter 11 filings out of a total of 371 represent a 4.0% business restructuring rate for the district, higher than most other top-ten districts this week, which may reflect elevated stress among mid-sized commercial real estate and retail businesses in the New York metropolitan corridor. At the other extreme, the minimal activity in Alaska (6), Vermont (11), and the territorial courts (all at or near zero) continues to highlight how the national bankruptcy system is functionally concentrated in a relatively small number of high-population urban districts.
5. Current Year Focus Through the week of May 4, 2026 — eighteen weeks into the year — the national year-to-date total has reached 215,872 filings, surpassing every comparable 18-week cumulative total in the dataset by a significant margin and crossing the 200,000 milestone earlier in the calendar year than ever before. The 2026 weekly average through Week 18 has risen to 11,993 filings per week, compared to the full-year 2025 average of 10,820, meaning 2026 is now running approximately 10.8% above last year's full-year run rate — a gap that has widened meaningfully following this week's surge. Chapter 7 filings are the primary engine of this acceleration: the year-to-date Chapter 7 total through Week 18 stands at 137,133, compared to 119,855 over the same period in 2025 — a 14.4% increase that reflects a broad and sustained shift toward immediate debt discharge among American households. Chapter 11 filings continue their outsize year-over-year growth, with the year-to-date total of 3,517 through Week 18 exceeding the comparable 2025 figure of 2,430 by 44.7%, a gap that has remained persistently wide throughout 2026 and points to a structural acceleration in business distress. The year-to-date Chapter 13 total of 75,076 through Week 18 also sets a new high for this point in the calendar year, exceeding the comparable 2025 figure of 67,729 by 10.8% and confirming that consumer reorganization demand is rising alongside — though more slowly than — outright liquidation filings.
6. Comparative Analysis with Previous Years The same-week comparison for Week 18 across all five years in the dataset reveals a pattern of sharp and consistent escalation, punctuated by an extraordinary leap in 2024 that set a new elevated baseline from which 2025 and 2026 have continued to climb. Filings rose from 6,592 in 2022 to 7,794 in 2023 (+18.2%), then surged dramatically to 11,602 in 2024 (+48.9%) — a single-year increase of nearly 3,800 filings that reshaped expectations for Week 18 — before climbing further to 13,557 in 2025 (+16.9%) and now 15,841 in 2026 (+16.8%). The year-to-date cumulative totals through 18 weeks reinforce the same trajectory: from 128,431 in 2022 the total has grown each year to 148,815 in 2023 (+15.9%), 170,617 in 2024 (+14.7%), 190,123 in 2025 (+11.4%), and now 215,872 in 2026 (+13.5%), with 2026 adding the largest absolute increase of the series at over 25,700 additional year-to-date filings compared to 2025. The Chapter 7 sub-comparison is particularly dramatic: from 79,779 cumulatively through Week 18 of 2022, the figure has grown to 137,133 in 2026 — a 71.9% increase in four years — while Chapter 13's comparable cumulative figure has grown from 47,424 to 75,076, a 58.3% rise. The Chapter 11 cumulative total of 3,517 through Week 18 of 2026 compares to just 1,164 over the same period in 2022, a 202.2% increase that is by far the largest proportional gain of any filing chapter and signals a qualitatively different level of business sector stress than was present four years ago.
7. Analyzing the Filings Per Capita Adjusted for population, the week of May 4, 2026 produced approximately 46.45 bankruptcy filings per one million Americans — by far the highest single-week per-capita rate recorded in 2026 and the highest for any Week 18 in the entire dataset, surpassing 2025's Week 18 rate of roughly 39.99 per million. Using approximate national population estimates of 333 million in 2022, 335 million in 2023, 337 million in 2024, 339 million in 2025, and 341 million in 2026, the annual per-capita weekly averages have risen steadily from 21.85 in 2022 to 25.56 in 2023, 28.75 in 2024, and 31.92 in 2025. The 2026 year-to-date weekly average of 11,993 filings translates to approximately 35.17 per million Americans per week — the highest such figure for any 18-week stretch on record and a level that would have seemed extraordinary even as recently as two years ago. In per-capita terms, Americans are filing for bankruptcy in 2026 at a rate roughly 61.0% higher than in 2022 when measured against the 18-week year-to-date averages, a transformation that reflects the cumulative effect of four years of rising debt burdens, elevated borrowing costs, and diminishing household financial reserves. The Chapter 7 per-capita rate this week alone — approximately 31.37 per million Americans — exceeds the total per-capita bankruptcy filing rate recorded in any week of 2022, a striking benchmark that illustrates how dramatically the financial landscape has shifted.
8. Analyzing the Changing Filings Per Capita The year-over-year change in the per-capita filing rate through 18 weeks of 2026 has actually re-accelerated relative to recent years, reversing the gradual slowdown seen in 2024 and 2025. Between 2022 and 2023, the per-capita weekly average increased by 3.71 cases per million — the steepest gain in the dataset — before moderating to 3.19 per million between 2023 and 2024 and 3.17 per million between 2024 and 2025. Through the first 18 weeks of 2026, the per-capita rate has risen by approximately 3.25 per million per week compared to the equivalent 2025 period — a slight acceleration that breaks the two-year pattern of deceleration and signals that financial stress is intensifying rather than plateauing. This re-acceleration is driven primarily by the Chapter 7 sub-trend: the four-year change in Chapter 7 filings for Week 18 alone is +187.4%, from 3,721 in 2022 to 10,696 in 2026, and the single-year change of +20.1% from 2025's 8,904 is the sharpest annual Chapter 7 acceleration seen in the dataset for this specific week. The Chapter 13 per-capita change tells a complementary story: growing from 2,779 in Week 18 of 2022 to 4,996 in 2026, the consumer reorganization rate has increased by 79.8% on a four-year basis, showing that financial distress is deep enough that even filers who could theoretically manage repayment plans are increasingly unable to sustain them.
9. Forecast for the Expected Filing Numbers for the Rest of the Year With 18 weeks completed and a year-to-date total of 215,872 filings, 2026 is on a trajectory that makes a full-year record virtually certain, with the key question being the magnitude of the final tally. Using the average of the four most recent weeks (Weeks 15 through 18), which produced an average of approximately 13,055 filings per week, the remaining 34 weeks of the year would contribute an additional roughly 443,860 filings, pointing toward a projected full-year 2026 total of approximately 659,732 — an increase of about 97,105 over the 2025 full-year total of 562,627. A more conservative projection using the full 18-week average of 11,993 per week yields a projected full-year total of approximately 623,630, still representing a 61,003-filing increase over 2025 — though this lower estimate does not adequately account for the re-accelerating pace seen in recent weeks. Given the historical seasonal pattern — where late summer and year-end weeks tend to moderate but not fully offset spring surges — the most likely full-year outcome falls in the 635,000–655,000 range, representing a 13–16% increase over 2025's total. The Chapter 11 trajectory adds further upside risk to these projections: with a year-to-date pace of approximately 195 business filings per week, annual Chapter 11 filings are on track to reach roughly 10,160, a level that would represent a new high in the dataset and could push the national total above the upper end of current estimates if business distress continues accelerating.
10. Forecast of the Trends of Increasing Filings After 2025 The data through the week of May 4, 2026 provides the clearest evidence yet that the post-2022 upward trend in national bankruptcy filings is not only sustained but actively re-accelerating, with the per-capita rate of increase rising for the first time in three years. The full-year annual progression from 378,331 in 2022 to 445,186 in 2023, 503,768 in 2024, and 562,627 in 2025 — combined with 2026's pace pointing toward 635,000–660,000 — maps a trajectory of roughly 60,000–97,000 additional filings per year, and the re-acceleration in per-capita terms suggests this range may prove conservative for 2027 and beyond. The structural forces behind this trend have deepened rather than eased: household debt has continued to grow, the refinancing of pandemic-era low-rate mortgages and business loans into higher-rate obligations is still working through the system, and the depletion of pandemic-era savings has left a broader share of Americans with little financial cushion against income disruption. The Chapter 11 trajectory is particularly consequential for post-2025 forecasting: having grown from a cumulative 18-week total of 1,164 in 2022 to 3,517 in 2026 — an increase of more than 200% — business restructuring activity is on a path that could see annual totals exceed 12,000–15,000 by 2027–2028 if corporate credit conditions remain stressed or deteriorate further. In summary, the most plausible scenario for the remainder of the decade is continued annual record-setting in the 650,000–800,000 filing range, with any meaningful reversal requiring a significant and sustained improvement in both monetary conditions and household balance sheets that, based on current data, does not appear imminent.

ChatGPT o3 Analysis of this Week's Bankruptcy Statistics

1. National volume reached 15 841 bankruptcy petitions during the week ending 4 May 2026. Chapter 7 accounted for 10 696 of those cases, Chapter 13 for 4 996, Chapter 11 for 143, and Chapter 12 for 6. Together the two consumer chapters supplied 97.8 % of activity, while the two business-oriented chapters contributed 2.2 %. Chapter 7 alone represented 67.5 % of the total and Chapter 13 31.5 %. These four figures add exactly to the national total of 15 841 and establish the basis for every comparison that follows.
2. Filings jumped sharply—up 3 149 cases, or 24.8 %, from last week’s 12 692 petitions. Nearly all of the increase came from Chapter 7, which surged by 2 176 cases (25.5 %), while Chapter 13 climbed 988 cases (24.7 %). In contrast, Chapter 11 fell by 12 cases (-7.7 %) and Chapter 12 dipped by 3 cases (-33.3 %). Year-over-year, the current total exceeds the 13 557 petitions recorded in the same week of 2025 by 2 284, a 16.8 % rise. Such divergent chapter-level movements highlight how headline growth can mask shifting debtor preferences.
3. District statistics reveal strong concentration. The Middle District of Florida processed 777 petitions, followed closely by the Central District of California with 768 and the Northern District of Illinois with 592. The Eastern District of Michigan and the Southern District of Florida added 533 and 508 filings respectively. Together these five venues handled 3 178 cases, equal to 20.1 % of the national total. By comparison, the median district closed just 126 petitions this week.
4. Geographic disparities are pronounced. The busiest court, Middle Florida with 777 filings, processed 129.5 × the six cases logged in Alaska. Three island districts—Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands—reported zero activity, underscoring their tiny populations. Across all jurisdictions the inter-quartile range runs from 58 to 223 filings, a span of 165. Even within the Seventh Circuit, Northern Illinois handled 592 cases while Western Wisconsin saw only 77, a 7.7-fold gap. Such variation reflects local economies, population density and access to legal counsel.
5. Through the first 18 weeks of 2026, courts have docketed 215 872 bankruptcy petitions. That total comprises 137 133 Chapter 7 cases, 75 076 Chapter 13 cases, 3 517 Chapter 11 cases and 146 Chapter 12 cases. Weekly volume is averaging 11 993 filings, with consumer chapters supplying 98.1 % of the load. The year-to-date total already exceeds the 190 123 filings recorded over the same span in 2025 by 25 749, a 13.5 % increase. These figures set a sturdy floor for full-year projections.
6. Early-year averages confirm a four-year climb. Weeks 1-18 averaged 8 268 filings in 2023, 9 479 in 2024, 10 562 in 2025 and 11 993 in 2026. Those steps translate into growth rates of 14.7 %, 11.4 % and 13.5 % respectively. In absolute terms, weekly volume has risen 3 725 cases since 2023, a 45.1 % expansion. Although the pace fluctuates, the multiyear trajectory remains unmistakably upward.
7. Scaled to population, this week delivered 4.74 filings per 100 000 residents. Chapter 7 alone produced 3.20 per 100 000, while Chapter 13 added 1.50. Chapter 11 contributed 0.04 and Chapter 12 barely 0.002 per 100 000. Consumer liquidations therefore dominate per-capita risk as well as raw counts. Such ratios enable apples-to-apples comparisons across states and time.
8. The per-capita rate jumped 0.94 from last week’s 3.80 to this week’s 4.74 filings per 100 000. Compared with the 4.06 recorded in week 18 of 2025, the increase is 0.68, or 16.7 %. Chapter-specific shifts echo the pattern: Chapter 7 rose 0.65 per 100 000 week-over-week, whereas Chapter 11 nudged down 0.00. Monitoring these swings helps distinguish seasonal volatility from structural stress. Consistent gains of nearly one filing per 100 000 in a single week signify mounting household pressure.
9. Projecting forward, the current 11 993-case weekly average would add about 407 758 petitions over the remaining 34 weeks of 2026. Combining that figure with the year-to-date total yields a full-year projection near 623 630 filings. That outcome would surpass 2025’s 562 624 cases by roughly 61 006, an anticipated 10.8 % increase. Even a 3 % swing in either direction keeps the range between 605 000 and 642 000, well above last year’s level. Courts, trustees and lenders should therefore gear up for a notably heavier docket through December.
10. Looking beyond 2026, the trend still points upward though at a gentler slope. If national filings grow 6 % in 2027, annual volume would reach about 661 048 cases; sustaining that pace into 2028 would lift totals to roughly 700 711. A more modest 4 % growth path would still place 2027 around 648 575 filings and 2028 near 674 518. Either scenario keeps counts well above the half-million mark, confirming a durable post-pandemic rebound. The curve is flattening, but every data point since 2025 suggests that bankruptcy workloads will continue inching higher for the foreseeable future.