The coronavirus pandemic has deeply disrupted the U.S. economy, which in turn has hurt the incomes of many Americans. Businesses have been forced to lay off workers as they struggle to survive, which has led to nearly 39 million Americans losing their jobs since the start of the pandemic. While all state economies have begun to at least partially reopen, it will take a long time to reverse the economic damage done by COVID-19, and consequently there has been a surge in the number of Americans who need to borrow money to stay afloat.
Americans who are having trouble with their finances during the COVID-19 pandemic are searching for all sorts of options to relieve the pressure, from home equity loans to payday loans. However, people’s interest in getting these types of loans varies from state to state. In order to determine the states where people are searching for loans the most during the pandemic, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key metrics. These metrics combine internal credit report data with data on Google search increases for three loan-related terms.
Greater interest in getting a loan indicates that more people in the state are struggling to make ends meet. It also implies there may be more strain on the state’s public assistance programs in the near future, and the state may experience a deeper recession than others will. Below, you can see WalletHub’s ranking of the states and D.C., along with a full description of our methodology.
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