MIAMI— A rise in collection accounts within a city is often a sign that more residents are struggling to keep up with their bills.
To find out where Americans are facing the greatest financial challenges, the personal finance company WalletHub has released its latest report Cities With the Most Collection Accounts.
To find out which cities are struggling the most with debt in collections, WalletHub analyzed 100 major cities using four key metrics including the average number of collection accounts, the average balance per account, and how both figures changed between Q1 and Q2 of 2025.
Garland
Garland, Texas, is the city with the most collection accounts, and residents with collection accounts have an average of 3.6 each as of Q2 2025 the highest in the country. In addition, this average went up by around 3.4% from Q1 to Q2 2025, the 13th-highest percentage in the country. This is worrying as it shows that people are increasingly unable to pay their debts.
Despite having a higher number of collection accounts, Garland residents owe an average of $1,248 on each account in collections, the 16th-lowest balance among the 100 cities analyzed, which may point to smaller, more manageable debts. However, the average balance increased by over 4% between Q1 and Q2 2025, the 15th-highest percentage.
“This upward trend could indicate that financial pressures are building, even if individual balances remain relatively low for now,” WalletHub said.
Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas is the city with the second-most collection accounts, and residents’ collection accounts have an average of 3.6 each as of Q2 2025.
“While Fort Worth has nearly as many collection accounts per person as Garland, the good news is that Fort Worth residents are increasing the number of collection accounts that they have at a slower rate. The number of collection accounts per person went up by around 2% between Q1 and Q2 2025, only the 33rd-highest percentage among the 100 cities in our study,” WalletHub said.
Fort Worth residents have the 42nd-highest average collection account balance in the country, at $1,496. The average balance increased by around 1.5% between Q1 and Q2 2025, the 36th-highest percentage.
“This shows that the city has more of a problem with paying off existing collection accounts than with letting new accounts fall into collections,” WallletHub said.
Arlington
Arlington, Texas, ranks third in the study, largely due to a sharp rise in both the number and balance of collection accounts between Q1 and Q2 2025. The average collection balance is $1,545, the 36th-highest in the country, and the average collection balance increased by around 5%, the 12th-highest among the 100 cities analyzed.
Residents with collection accounts in Arlington have an average of 3.4 accounts each, the eighth-highest overall. The number of collection accounts also rose by 4.1% during the same period, and was the eighth-highest in the country. These increases suggest that financial pressure on residents may be growing, both in the number of debts and the amounts owed, WallletHub said.