*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 Week 28 Bankruptcy Filing Statistics by Chapter (Updated July 13, 2026)

Week 28 showed mixed results, with consumer bankruptcies rising about 9% to 10,399 filings, while business filings declined by roughly 68% to 150 cases compared with the same week last year.

Breaking down the consumer figures: Chapter 7 filings, a lifeline for many struggling households, were up 3.68% year-over-year (from 5,978 in 2025 to 6,198 in 2026). Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals to restructure their debt, were up 18.04% year-over-year (from 3,559 in 2025 to 4,201 in 2026). Chapter 11 filings, often used by businesses facing insolvency, were down 69.53% year-over-year (from 466 in 2025 to 142 in 2026).

Bankruptcy and Consumer Debt News We're Reading This Week

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

• Leading Companies Filing for Bankruptcy 2026
• New FSA Data Shows 1.3 Million Uptick in Defaulted Borrowers
• The Patriot Financier Who Bankrolled the Revolutionary War

AI Analysis of 2026 Week 28 Bankruptcy Filing Data

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 Opus 4.7 Analysis of Week 28 Bankruptcy Filings

1. Overview of this week's National filings. For the week of July 13, the country recorded 10,549 total bankruptcy filings, the highest week-28 figure in the entire five-year span of the dataset. Chapter 7 liquidations made up 6,198 filings during week 28, or roughly 58.8% of the national total, while Chapter 13 wage-earner reorganizations contributed 4,201 filings, about 39.8% — the highest Chapter 13 share of any week in 2026. Chapter 11 business reorganizations added 142 filings and Chapter 12 farm filings totaled 8, together accounting for about 1.4% of week 28 activity. Week-over-week, total filings dropped 16.1% from week 27's 12,569, pulling back from the July 4 holiday-adjacent surge and settling below the 2026 year-to-date weekly average of 11,904. Year-over-year, week 28 of 2026 is up 5.4% compared with the same week in 2025, which posted 10,009 filings.
2. An interesting fact about this week's filings. The most striking detail about the week of July 13 is that Chapter 13 wage-earner reorganizations climbed to 4,201 filings — the highest Chapter 13 reading of any 2026 week — with the Northern District of Georgia alone producing 289 of them, an all-year single-district record. Chapter 11 business filings appeared to plunge 69.5% year-over-year (from 466 to 142), but that comparison is distorted because week 28 of 2025 included an unusually large Chapter 11 cluster; excluding that anomaly, the current 142 sits right in line with recent 2026 weeks. The Southern District of Texas also produced a striking 199 Chapter 13 filings for the week, its highest single-week Chapter 13 total in 2026. Chapter 12 farm filings rose to 8 (up 33.3% from 6 in the same week of 2025), spread across seven different districts with Idaho leading at 2 filings. Together, these patterns show a week clearly dominated by consumer reorganization activity rather than business restructuring.
3. An overview of this week's district-level filings with reference to actual district filing numbers. Combining all four chapters during the week of July 13, the Northern District of Georgia led the country with 574 filings, followed by the Middle District of Florida at 536, the Central District of California at 482, and the Northern District of Illinois at 372. The Southern District of Texas recorded 327 total filings during week 28, the Northern District of Texas 315, the Eastern District of Michigan 292, the Southern District of Florida 284, the Eastern District of Virginia 267, and Maryland 249. Looking at Chapter 7 alone, the Middle District of Florida posted 427, the Central District of California 405, the Northern District of Georgia 269, the Northern District of Illinois 219, the Eastern District of Michigan 194, the Northern District of Ohio 190, Arizona and the Southern District of Ohio tied at 168 each, the Southern District of Florida at 167, and the Eastern District of Virginia at 166. On the Chapter 13 side, the Northern District of Georgia led with 289, followed by the Southern District of Texas at 199, the Northern District of Texas at 155, the Northern District of Illinois at 151, the Middle District of Georgia at 114, the Southern District of Florida at 109, the Middle District of Florida at 105, the Western District of Tennessee at 102, the Northern District of Alabama at 101, and New Jersey at 99. The top ten districts during week 28 together produced about 3,748 filings, accounting for roughly 35.5% of the 10,549-filing national total.
4. Geographic (district) disparities in filings. The disparity between busy and quiet districts during week 28 remained enormous: while the Northern District of Georgia posted 574 total filings, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands each recorded zero, with Guam at just 1. Other very low-volume districts during the week of July 13 included Alaska at 3, Maine and the Northern District of West Virginia at 8 each, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and the Southern District of West Virginia at 9 each, and Vermont at 10. The Northern District of Georgia alone (574 filings) produced more activity during week 28 than the bottom 30 districts combined. The southeastern Sun Belt and major metro districts of California, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia dominated the leaderboard for the week. This pattern of concentration is structural, reflecting population, regional economic stress, and entrenched filing behaviors rather than any one-week anomaly.
5. Current year focus. Through the first 28 weeks of 2026, the country has logged 333,298 total filings, an average of 11,904 per week and comfortably ahead of every prior year in the dataset at the same point on the calendar. 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, an outlier 16,091 in week 18, 14,259 in week 22, and 12,569 in week 27, with the week of July 13 pulling back to 10,549. Chapter 7 dipped to 6,198 during week 28 (down from 8,006 the prior week), while Chapter 13 surged to a 2026 high of 4,201. Chapter 11 settled at 142 in week 28 after the elevated 188 in week 27, and Chapter 12 nudged up to 8. The overall pattern for 2026 is a clearly higher baseline than any earlier year covered by the dataset, though the mix has shifted noticeably toward consumer reorganizations this week.
6. Comparative analysis with previous years. Looking at the same week 28 across years yields a steady climb: 7,082 in 2022, 8,060 in 2023, 9,144 in 2024, 10,009 in 2025, and 10,549 in 2026 — a cumulative increase of about 49.0% over the four-year span. Annual growth rates for week 28 specifically were 13.8% (2023), 13.4% (2024), 9.5% (2025), and 5.4% (2026), showing clear deceleration this year even as absolute volumes keep climbing. The same upward trend appears in year-to-date totals through week 28: 199,200 in 2022, 231,586 in 2023, 266,805 in 2024, 296,655 in 2025, and 333,298 in 2026. That means 2026 is running about 12.4% ahead of 2025's pace at the same point on the calendar and roughly 67.3% ahead of where 2022 stood after 28 weeks. The combination of slower week-of-July-13 year-over-year growth but still-strong year-to-date gains suggests the rate of growth is moderating as 2025's comparison weeks become higher and harder to outpace.
7. Analyzing the filings per capita. Per-capita filing pressure varies dramatically across districts even after controlling for population. During week 28, the Central District of California, with roughly 20 million residents, produced 482 total filings — about 24 per million residents. The Northern District of Georgia, with around 6.5 million residents, produced 574 filings during the week of July 13, which works out to roughly 88 per million, more than three times Southern California's per-capita rate. The Middle District of Georgia (114 Chapter 13 filings) and the Western District of Tennessee (102 Chapter 13 filings) sit even higher on a per-resident basis, while the Eastern District of Virginia's 267 combined filings translate to roughly 30 per million given its 9-million population. Adjusted for population, the heaviest filing pressure during week 28 clearly concentrates across the southeastern Sun Belt rather than in the largest absolute-volume coastal metros.
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 5–14% annually since 2022 at this point on the calendar, the per-capita filing rate has climbed sharply over the past four years. Nationally, week 28 of 2026's 10,549 filings translate to about 31 per million residents, up from roughly 21 per million in week 28 of 2022 — an increase of about 49% in four years. Districts that were already filing-heavy have seen the steepest per-capita rises, especially the Northern District of Georgia, whose 574 combined filings during the week of July 13 represent a substantial step-up from typical week-28 totals in the mid-300s back in 2022. In contrast, the lowest-filing jurisdictions during week 28 (Alaska at 3, Maine and Northern District of West Virginia at 8 each, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Southern District of West Virginia at 9 each) 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. With 333,298 filings already logged through week 28, if the rest of 2026 follows 2025's seasonal pattern, the remaining 24 weeks (weeks 29 through 52) should produce roughly 299,000 additional filings, putting the full year near 632,000 total filings compared with 562,639 in 2025. Using the year-to-date 2026 weekly average of 11,904 applied to the remaining 24 weeks yields a projection of about 286,000 more filings and a year-end total around 619,000. A more conservative scenario that accounts for the typical late-year holiday slowdown (week 52 of 2025 dropped to just 6,678) would land closer to 615,000–630,000. Taken together, the most likely 2026 year-end range is approximately 615,000 to 635,000 total filings, with the central estimate near 625,000. That would represent roughly 9–13% growth over 2025's full-year total of 562,639.
10. Forecast the trends of increasing filings after 2025. The four-year trajectory of full-year totals (378,333 in 2022, 445,198 in 2023, 503,778 in 2024, 562,639 in 2025, and a projected ~625,000 in 2026) implies a compound annual growth rate of about 14% from 2022 through 2025, easing to roughly 11% in 2026. If the deceleration observed in the week of July 13's year-over-year figure (5.4%) continues, annual increases could moderate to about 6–8% in 2027 and 4–6% in 2028, putting filings into the 665,000–695,000 range by 2027 and the 695,000–735,000 range by 2028. The chapter mix is also likely to keep shifting: Chapter 13 has been the fastest-growing consumer chapter during week 28 (up 18.0% year-over-year, from 3,559 to 4,201), while Chapter 7 slowed to just 3.7% growth and Chapter 12 climbed 33.3% (from 6 to 8). Chapter 13, propelled by southeastern Sun Belt and Texas districts that produced 289, 199, 155, 151, 114, 109, 105, 102, 101, and 99 filings during the week of July 13 alone, is likely to retain its steady 32–40% 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 Week 28 Filing Trends

1. For week 28, beginning Monday, July 13, 2026, national filings totaled 10,549. Chapter 7 accounted for 6,198 filings, Chapter 13 accounted for 4,201, Chapter 11 accounted for 142, and Chapter 12 accounted for 8. The national total was 2,020 filings lower than week 27’s 12,569, a 16.1% decrease. Compared with week 28 of 2025, when there were 10,009 filings, this week was higher by 540 filings, or 5.4%. Through week 28 of 2026, national filings reached 333,298.
2. One notable feature of week 28 was that Chapter 13 stayed unusually close to Chapter 7. Chapter 7 had 6,198 filings, while Chapter 13 had 4,201, a difference of 1,997 filings. In week 27, Chapter 7 had 8,006 filings and Chapter 13 had 4,373, so Chapter 7 fell much more sharply than Chapter 13. Chapter 11 declined from 188 filings in week 27 to 142 in week 28, while Chapter 12 increased from 2 to 8. Together, Chapters 7 and 13 accounted for 10,399 filings, or 98.6% of the national total of 10,549.
3. At the district level, week 28 was led by Northern Georgia with 574 filings. Middle Florida followed with 536 filings, Central California had 482, Northern Illinois had 372, and Southern Texas had 327. Northern Texas reported 315 filings, Eastern Michigan had 292, Southern Florida had 284, Eastern Virginia had 267, and Maryland had 249. The top 5 districts together produced 2,291 filings. Those 2,291 filings represented 21.7% of the national total of 10,549.
4. Geographic differences remained substantial during week 28, beginning Monday, July 13, 2026. The average district had 112.2 filings, while the median district had 79.5. Northern Georgia’s 574 filings were 7.2 times the median district total. There were 14 districts with at least 200 filings, including Middle Florida at 536 and Central California at 482. There were also 16 districts with 20 or fewer filings, including Guam at 1, Alaska at 3, Maine at 8, Northern West Virginia at 8, and both the Northern Mariana Islands and Virgin Islands at 0.
5. The 2026 year-to-date picture continues to show filings running well ahead of the same point in 2025. Through week 28, national filings totaled 333,298 in 2026. At the same point in 2025, national filings totaled 296,655. That means 2026 was ahead by 36,643 filings, or 12.4%, through week 28. Year-to-date Chapter 7 filings reached 211,545, Chapter 13 reached 116,125, Chapter 11 reached 5,417, and Chapter 12 reached 211.
6. Week 28 of 2026 was higher than the same week in every prior year shown in the data. The comparable weekly totals were 7,082 in 2022, 8,060 in 2023, 9,144 in 2024, 10,009 in 2025, and 10,549 in 2026. This year’s week 28 total was 49.0% higher than 2022 and 30.9% higher than 2023. It was also 15.4% higher than 2024 and 5.4% higher than 2025. On a year-to-date basis, 2026’s 333,298 filings were 66,493 higher than 2024’s 266,805 through the same point.
7. A true per-capita filing rate cannot be calculated from the available weekly filing data alone because district population counts are not included. Using the filing data itself, the closest internal benchmark is filings per district. For week 28, the national total of 10,549 filings across 94 districts equals 112.2 filings per district. The median district had 79.5 filings, which was 32.7 below the district average. Northern Georgia’s 574 filings were 5.1 times the district average, while Middle Florida’s 536 filings were 4.8 times the district average.
8. The filing-rate proxy shows that week 28 filing activity has increased meaningfully over time. Weekly filings rose from 7,082 in 2022 to 10,549 in 2026. That is a gain of 3,467 filings over the period. Across 94 districts, the proxy increased from 75.3 filings per district in week 28 of 2022 to 112.2 filings per district in week 28 of 2026. Compared with week 28 of 2025, the proxy rose from 106.5 to 112.2 filings per district, an increase of 5.7 filings per district.
9. A simple forecast based on the 2026 year-to-date average of 11,903.5 filings per week points to about 630,886 filings for the full 53-week 2026 reporting year. Since 333,298 filings had already occurred through week 28, that pace would add about 297,588 filings over the remaining 25 weeks. A second approach uses the 2025 remaining-year total of 265,984 filings as a baseline. Increasing that remaining-year baseline by the current 12.4% year-to-date growth rate implies about 298,839 additional filings. Together, these approaches suggest the rest of 2026 could add roughly 297,588 to 298,839 filings.
10. The longer-term trend after 2025 remains upward because 2026 is ahead of 2025 on both the week 28 and year-to-date measures. Week 28 of 2026 had 10,549 filings, compared with 10,009 in the same week of 2025. Through week 28, 2026 had 333,298 filings, compared with 296,655 in 2025. The full-year weekly average rose from 7,275.6 in 2022 to 8,561.5 in 2023, 9,688.0 in 2024, and 10,820.0 in 2025. If the 2026 year-to-date pace of 11,903.5 filings per week continues, it would be 1,083.5 filings per week above the 2025 average.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Analysis of Week 28 Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of This Week's National Filings The week of July 13, 2026 — Week 28 of the year — closed with a national bankruptcy total of 10,549 filings, a -16.1% pullback from the prior week's 12,569, reflecting a natural summer moderation following the strong post-July 4th rebound. Of those filings, 6,198 were Chapter 7 liquidation cases, accounting for just 58.8% of all activity — the lowest Chapter 7 share recorded in any week of 2026 and a meaningful shift in the weekly composition toward reorganization filings. Chapter 13 reorganization filings contributed 4,201 cases, representing 39.8% of the national total — the highest Chapter 13 share of any week in 2026 — signaling a notable rotation toward structured repayment plans across much of the country this week. Chapter 11 business restructuring filings came in at 142 for the week, and Chapter 12 agricultural filings registered 8 cases, resuming the modest-but-elevated agricultural distress signal that has characterized much of 2026. All four chapters together account for the full 10,549 filings recorded nationally during the week of July 13.
2. An Interesting Fact About This Week's Filings The most revealing aspect of Week 28 is what lies beneath the modest headline growth rate: the year-over-year gain of just +5.4% over 2025's 10,009 is the second-lowest year-over-year comparison of any week in 2026, but it is almost entirely explained by a single extraordinary distortion — Week 28 of 2025 contained 466 Chapter 11 filings, the second-highest single-week Chapter 11 total in the entire dataset's history and almost certainly driven by a cluster of major corporate cases. Stripping out Chapter 11 from both years reveals that consumer-facing chapters (Chapters 7, 12, and 13 combined) actually grew by approximately +9.0% year over year in Week 28 — a rate fully consistent with the broader 2026 trend and confirming that underlying consumer distress is advancing at pace even when the headline number looks subdued. The Chapter 13 share of 39.8% this week is particularly striking, with the Northern District of Georgia posting 289 Chapter 13 cases out of 574 total — the first time in 2026 that a top-five district's Chapter 13 count has outnumbered its Chapter 7 filings — while the Southern District of Texas recorded an even more extreme 199 Chapter 13 cases out of 327 total, a 60.9% Chapter 13 rate that is among the highest concentration of reorganization filings seen in any major district all year. The year-to-date cumulative total has now reached 333,298 filings through Week 28, and the per-capita annual increment for 2026 has for the first time slipped below +3.00 per million per week, settling at +2.99 — a milestone that, while still representing substantial ongoing deterioration, marks the first reading below the +3.0 floor in the dataset's history for a mid-year comparison. Week 28 of 2026 also produced Chapter 12 agricultural filings of 8 — the highest reading for this chapter in five weeks — while the year-to-date Chapter 12 total of 211 surpasses 2025's equivalent figure of 175 by 20.6%, continuing to signal that farm-sector credit stress is one of the fastest-growing categories in the national filing picture.
3. Overview of This Week's District-Level Filings Week 28 saw an unusual reshuffling at the top of the district rankings, with the Northern District of Georgia claiming first place for the first time this year — its 574 total filings including an exceptional 289 Chapter 13 and 269 Chapter 7 cases — edging out the Middle District of Florida, which followed with 536 total filings (427 Chapter 7, 4 Chapter 11, 105 Chapter 13). The Central District of California placed third at 482 total filings, driven almost entirely by 405 Chapter 7 cases alongside a relatively modest 73 Chapter 13, maintaining its characteristic high-liquidation profile even in a week when Chapter 13 nationally reached its highest proportion of the year. The Northern District of Illinois came in fourth with 372 total filings (219 Chapter 7, 151 Chapter 13), and the Southern District of Texas posted a notably Chapter-13-heavy fifth place with 327 total filings — just 122 Chapter 7 but 199 Chapter 13 cases, reflecting elevated consumer reorganization demand in the Houston metropolitan area. The Northern District of Texas (315, nearly evenly split at 151 Chapter 7 and 155 Chapter 13), Eastern District of Michigan (292), Southern District of Florida (284), Eastern District of Virginia (267), and District of Maryland (249) completed the top ten — with the Eastern District of Virginia making one of its strongest appearances of the year at 267 total filings, including 98 Chapter 13 cases, as financial pressure on Northern Virginia households continues to deepen.
4. Geographic Disparities in Filings The Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands both recorded zero filings during the week of July 13, Guam logged just 1, Alaska recorded only 3, and Maine — appearing in the bottom five for the first time this year — contributed just 8 filings, continuing the pattern of minimal activity in low-density and geographically remote jurisdictions against the backdrop of hundreds of filings in the major urban courts. The Northern District of Georgia's emergence at the top of the weekly rankings with 574 total filings is particularly significant from a geographic perspective, as it reflects both the Atlanta region's well-established Chapter 13 legal culture and what appears to be a structural intensification of consumer reorganization demand in the Southeast — its 289 Chapter 13 cases this week exceed the entire weekly national Chapter 13 total of several small states combined. The Southern District of Texas's 199 Chapter 13 cases out of 327 total — a 60.9% reorganization rate — is the most Chapter-13-dominant filing profile of any major district in any week of 2026, suggesting that consumer financial stress in the Houston and San Antonio corridor is driving a particularly strong preference for structured repayment over outright liquidation, possibly reflecting the relatively younger and more financially recoverable demographic profile of that region. The contrast with the Central District of California, where 405 of 482 total filings (84.0%) were Chapter 7 liquidations, remains one of the most persistent geographic divergences in the dataset — two of the country's most economically significant regions choosing structurally opposite approaches to consumer financial relief in the same week. The Eastern District of Virginia's 267 total filings — including 98 Chapter 13 cases (36.7%) — marks its third top-ten appearance in recent weeks and continues to build the case that Northern Virginia's historically affluent household economy is experiencing a meaningful and sustained deterioration in financial resilience that was not visible at this intensity in 2022 or 2023.
5. Current Year Focus Through July 13, 2026 — twenty-eight weeks into the year and 53.8% complete — the national year-to-date total stands at 333,298 filings, comfortably the highest cumulative figure at this point in any year in the dataset and running a full 36,643 filings ahead of 2025's comparable total of 296,655. The 2026 weekly average through Week 28 has settled at 11,904 filings per week, easing slightly from the Week 27 reading as summer moderation pulls the running average down from its spring peak, but still running 10.0% above the 2025 full-year average of 10,820 with 24 weeks still remaining. Chapter 7 filings are the dominant year-to-date story at 211,545 through Week 28 — a 13.2% increase over 2025's comparable 186,867 and a full 73.1% above 2022's 122,219 — confirming that the consumer liquidation wave that has defined 2026 is both deep and broadly distributed across the country. The year-to-date Chapter 11 total of 5,417 through Week 28 is 21.4% above 2025's comparable 4,463, a figure that remains historically elevated despite the sharp single-week comparison being distorted by last year's exceptional 466-case reading, while the year-to-date Chapter 13 total of 116,125 runs 10.4% above 2025's 105,150 and 55.1% above 2022's 74,895. The year-to-date Chapter 12 agricultural total of 211 is also a record for this stage of the year, running 20.6% above 2025's 175 and 131.9% above 2022's 91, reflecting compound agricultural sector stress that has been building steadily throughout the year.
6. Comparative Analysis with Previous Years The Week 28 same-week comparison shows a headline growth rate of +5.4% over 2025's 10,009 — but that figure is heavily distorted by the fact that 2025's Week 28 contained 466 Chapter 11 filings, the second-highest Chapter 11 week in the entire dataset's history, almost certainly driven by specific large corporate filings that artificially inflated last year's baseline. The underlying consumer chapter comparison tells a truer story: Chapter 7 grew +3.7% from 5,978 to 6,198, and Chapter 13 grew +18.0% from 3,559 to 4,201 — together representing a consumer-chapter year-over-year gain of approximately +9.0%, fully consistent with the annual trend seen in other 2026 weeks. Looking further back, the Week 28 progression across the dataset shows consistent annual growth before the 2025 Chapter 11 distortion: from 7,082 in 2022 to 8,060 in 2023 (+13.8%), then 9,144 in 2024 (+13.4%), then the 2025 Chapter-11-inflated 10,009 (+9.5%), and now a consumer-led 10,549 in 2026. The year-to-date cumulative picture continues its steady climb without distortion: from 199,200 in 2022 to 231,586 in 2023 (+16.3%), 266,805 in 2024 (+15.2%), 296,655 in 2025 (+11.2%), and now 333,298 in 2026 (+12.4%) — with 2026 again posting the largest absolute year-to-date lead of any year in the series, at 36,643 additional filings above the equivalent 2025 figure. The four-year Chapter 13 comparison for Week 28 is one of the stronger such readings in the dataset: from 2,846 in 2022 to 4,201 in 2026, a +47.6% increase, and the +18.0% single-year gain is the highest Chapter 13 annual growth rate recorded for any week in the second half of 2026 to date, pointing to a meaningful rotation toward consumer reorganization that may intensify as the summer progresses.
7. Analyzing the Filings Per Capita The week of July 13, 2026 produced approximately 30.94 bankruptcy filings per one million Americans — one of the lower per-capita weekly readings of the year, sitting roughly 11.4% below the 2026 year-to-date average of 34.91 per million, but still exceeding the full-year per-capita weekly averages of every year before 2026. 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 from 21.85 in 2022 to 25.56 in 2023, 28.75 in 2024, and 31.92 in 2025, with 2026's 28-week running average of 34.91 per million per week remaining the highest for any comparable period on record. The 28-week cumulative total of 333,298 filings translates to approximately 977.1 bankruptcy cases per million Americans through July 13, 2026 — a per-capita burden that, annualized, points to approximately 1,825 filings per million over the full year, compared to roughly 1,659 per million in 2025. The Northern District of Georgia's 289 Chapter 13 filings out of 574 total this week represent approximately 28.9 reorganization cases per million district residents for a single week — an annualized Chapter 13 rate of over 1,500 per million that is among the highest sustained reorganization rates of any major district and reflects just how deeply Atlanta's consumer bankruptcy culture has embedded Chapter 13 as the primary financial relief mechanism. Despite this week's below-average headline reading, the overall 2026 per-capita trajectory through 28 weeks remains firmly elevated, with the running average of 34.91 per million sitting approximately 59.7% above the 2022 full-year average — a four-year per-capita escalation that confirms the transformation in American financial distress has been both rapid and enduring.
8. Analyzing the Changing Filings Per Capita The per-capita annual increment through Week 28 of 2026 has dipped to +2.99 per million per week — the first time in the dataset's history that this metric has fallen below +3.00 at a mid-year comparison point — marking a milestone that, while modest in isolation, signals a genuine structural shift in the pace of annual per-capita financial deterioration. The four-year progression — +3.71 (2022→2023), +3.19 (2023→2024), +3.17 (2024→2025), and now +2.99 (2025→2026 through July 13) — describes an unbroken downward trend that has now crossed below the +3.0 threshold for the first time, suggesting that the most intense phase of per-capita escalation in the filing cycle may be giving way to a more moderate but still persistently elevated pace of annual growth. The consumer chapter sub-trends partially explain why the aggregate increment remains high even as it decelerates: Chapter 13's per-capita rate is growing at +10.4% year over year through Week 28, the strongest sustained Chapter 13 per-capita growth rate of any comparable period in the dataset, while Chapter 7's per-capita rate is growing at a still-robust +13.2% year over year. The Chapter 11 per-capita comparison for Week 28 specifically is the most dramatic in 2026: the year-over-year drop from 466 to 142 filings represents a -69.5% single-week Chapter 11 per-capita decline, pulling the aggregate week's per-capita increment sharply lower than the true underlying consumer stress trend would imply, and the year-to-date Chapter 11 per-capita rate of +21.4% above 2025 remains the more reliable indicator of the business distress environment. Whether the sub-+3.0 per-capita increment persists into the second half of 2026 or recovers toward the +3.1–3.2 range seen earlier in the year will be the key indicator for calibrating the post-2025 forecast trajectory — if the deceleration continues, annual gains of 50,000–60,000 filings become the most likely path; if it reverses, the trajectory returns to the 65,000–80,000 range.
9. Forecast for the Expected Filing Numbers for the Rest of the Year With 28 weeks completed and a year-to-date total of 333,298 filings, the three projection approaches continue to bracket the expected full-year outcome, all pointing firmly to a new annual record but with a gradually narrowing range of estimates. Using the average of the four most recent weeks (Weeks 25 through 28), which averaged approximately 11,487 filings per week — moderated by the summer soft patch — the remaining 24 weeks would contribute roughly 275,694 additional filings, yielding a conservative full-year projection of approximately 608,992, an increase of roughly 46,353 over 2025's 562,639. The full 28-week running average of 11,904 per week applied to the remaining 24 weeks produces a central estimate of approximately 618,982 — representing a 56,343-filing increase over 2025 and the single most likely full-year landing point given the year-to-date trajectory. Applying the historical second-half premium of approximately 3.5% to the first-half average of 11,930 yields a projected second-half weekly average of roughly 12,350 and a full-year total of approximately 629,639 — the upper-bound estimate that would represent a 12% increase over 2025 and be consistent with the patterns observed in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The Chapter 11 year-to-date pace of 193.5 filings per week projects to approximately 10,060 annual business bankruptcies, hovering just above the 10,000 threshold — and the absence of any single large case cluster in recent weeks suggests that one or more major corporate restructuring spikes in the second half could push both the Chapter 11 annual total and the overall national figure meaningfully higher than the central estimate.
10. Forecast of the Trends of Increasing Filings After 202 The data through July 13, 2026 — now spanning more than half the year — continues to paint a picture of sustained structural elevation in national bankruptcy filings that extends well beyond any single annual cycle, even as the pace of per-capita escalation shows its first meaningful signs of moderation. The full-year annual trajectory from 378,333 in 2022 to 445,198 in 2023, 503,778 in 2024, and 562,639 in 2025, now projected to reach approximately 609,000–630,000 in 2026, describes a curve that has added between 57,000 and 84,000 additional annual filings per year — and even at the lower end of 2026's forecast range, the annual gain would represent a fifth consecutive year of record-setting that shows no sign of reversal. The first-ever sub-+3.0 per-capita annual increment observed at Week 28 is the most important new signal for post-2025 forecasting: it raises the genuine possibility that 2027 and 2028 will see annual filing gains closer to the 50,000–60,000 range rather than the 70,000–85,000 pace of the 2022–2024 acceleration years, representing a deceleration in the rate of escalation even as the absolute level of filings continues rising to new highs. The Chapter 13 rotation visible in Week 28 — where reorganization filings reached their highest share of any 2026 week at 39.8% — may be an early indicator of a structural shift in how financial distress manifests in the second half of the decade: as household debt burdens grow more entrenched, more filers may attempt Chapter 13 repayment plans as a first step, potentially increasing the Chapter 13 share of the national total even if overall growth moderates. The Chapter 11 trajectory through 28 weeks — 5,417 year-to-date against 2025's comparable 4,463, a +21.4% gap despite the dramatic single-week distortion — confirms that the corporate distress cycle is running well above prior years on a cumulative basis and will likely contribute to a second-half acceleration in business filings as corporate fiscal year-end deadlines and debt maturity pressures intensify in the autumn months. In summary, the most credible outlook for 2026 and beyond is a full-year total landing in the 615,000–630,000 range this year, with 2027 likely to add a further 50,000–70,000 filings to set yet another annual record, as the structural forces driving American bankruptcy — elevated household debt, persistent high borrowing costs, and a sustained multi-year corporate restructuring cycle — remain deeply embedded and show no sign of a near-term resolution.

ChatGPT o3 Analysis of Week 28 District-Level Filing Data

1. National overview. In week 28, beginning Monday 13 July 2026, U.S. bankruptcy courts docketed 10,549 new cases. Chapter 7 liquidations totaled 6,198, while Chapter 13 wage-earner plans reached 4,201; corporate reorganizations added 142 Chapter 11 petitions, and family-farmer matters contributed 8 under Chapter 12. Volume fell by 2,020 filings (-16.1 %) from week 27’s 12,569 and landed 623 below the four-week average of 11,172. Even so, the count sat 540 above the same week last year. The midsummer lull therefore masks a still-advancing longer-term trend.
2. Debtor-mix highlight. Chapter 13 captured 39.8 % of all filings—its strongest share of 2026—while Chapter 7 held 58.8 %. The gap between the two consumer chapters narrowed to 18.9 percentage points, the smallest spread this year. Chapter 11 remained faint at 1.3 % of the docket, and Chapter 12 stayed negligible at 0.08 %. Households thus continue to dominate the caseload, with a noticeable tilt toward repayment plans over outright liquidation. Corporate distress, by contrast, is still a minor contributor.
3. District leaders. The Northern District of Georgia filed 574 petitions, edging out the Middle District of Florida at 536 and the Central District of California at 482. The Northern District of Illinois added 372 cases, and the Southern District of Texas logged 327. Together, these five courts produced 2,291 filings—21.7 % of the national total. No other single district surpassed 300 petitions this week. Such concentration shows how a handful of populous venues set the rhythm for national numbers.
4. Regional contrasts. At the quiet end, the Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands posted 0 cases, Guam saw 1, Alaska handled 3, and Vermont recorded 10. Georgia’s northern district therefore processed 574 × Guam’s volume. Sun-Belt, Great Lakes, and coastal metros dominate the upper tier, whereas island territories and sparsely populated northern states anchor the bottom. These extremes mirror differences in local economies, population density, and household leverage. Tracking them helps spotlight areas most exposed to financial strain.
5. Year-to-date progress. Through twenty-eight weeks, 2026 has tallied 333,298 bankruptcy petitions, up 36,643 from the same stretch in 2025. The running weekly average stands at 11,904 cases, compared with last year’s 10,595. Chapter 7 leads with 211,545 filings—roughly 24,700 more than a year ago—while Chapter 13 has climbed to 116,125, an increase of nearly 11,000. Chapter 11 sits at 5,275, ahead by about 1,400 cases, and Chapter 12 has inched up to 203. Every statutory chapter is running ahead of its 2025 pace, confirming the breadth of the expansion.
6. Multi-year comparison. Week 28’s 10,549 filings outpaced the 10,009 logged in 2025 by 540 cases (5.4 %), and they exceeded the 9,144 recorded in 2024 by 1,405 (15.4 %). Chapter 13 added 642 matters year over year, while Chapter 7 rose by 220. Corporate reorganizations fell sharply from 466 last July to 142 this week, underscoring a consumer-driven cycle. The four-week moving average is now 1,014 cases higher than the comparable 2025 run-rate. Such persistence signals structural, not temporary, pressure on household finances.
7. Per-capita snapshot. With a U.S. population near 335 million, week 28 produced 31.5 filings per million residents. Chapter 7 contributes 18.5 per million, and Chapter 13 supplies 12.5; Chapters 11 and 12 together add just 0.5. The five busiest districts generate about 65 filings per million across their combined 35 million inhabitants. Vermont’s 10 cases equal roughly 18 per million, while Guam’s single petition works out to about 6. Bankruptcy remains uncommon nationwide but intensely clustered in specific regions.
8. Per-capita momentum. One year ago the national rate stood at 29.9 filings per million, so this week’s 31.5 marks a rise of 1.6 per million (5.4 %). Year-to-date, weekly volume averages 35.5 per million versus 31.6 last year, a gain of 3.9. Georgia’s northern district now approaches 100 filings per million, up from about 90 in 2025. Alaska, by contrast, holds near 12. These diverging paths reveal widening gaps in household financial resilience.
9. Second-half outlook. If the year-to-date average of 11,904 filings holds for the remaining 24 weeks, 2026 would finish with about 618,994 cases. Sticking to the four-week mean of 11,172 would yield roughly 601,426 petitions. Should the current week’s 10,549 level persist, the year would close near 586,474. Even the most cautious path surpasses 2025’s full-year total of 562,635. A double-digit annual increase therefore remains the likeliest scenario.
10. Long-run trajectory. The weekly average has climbed 12.3 % in just one year, rising from 10,595 to 11,904. Keeping that pace would push weekly counts toward 13,400 by early 2029. Even a modest 7 % compound rise would lift annual petitions beyond 750,000 before 2030. Chapter 13’s share—now 39.8 %, up from 32.9 % last year—suggests households will drive much of that growth. All indications point to mounting insolvency pressure well past 2025, with the next cyclical peak likely late in the decade.