We Are Not Alone

We completed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. And if you're reading this, there's a good chance you're in one right now. Here's something that helped us get through it: over 211,000 Americans filed a Chapter 13 case in just the past twelve months. That number has been climbing steadily for two years running.

This thing can feel incredibly isolating. You don't bring it up at dinner parties. Your neighbors probably don't know. It feels like something that's happening to you and nobody else — a private struggle in a world where everyone else seems to have their finances together.

They don't. The numbers say otherwise.

The National Picture

According to the U.S. Courts' most recent quarterly statistics, 211,700 new Chapter 13 cases were filed in the twelve months ending March 31, 2026. That's up 6.3% from the same period a year earlier — and up 13% since Q1 2024.

This isn't a blip. It's thirteen consecutive quarters of growth.

Chapter 13 — the chapter where you keep your assets and repay debts over three to five years — now accounts for about 36% of all bankruptcy filings in the country. These are people who chose to face their debt head-on rather than walk away from it. People who are, in many cases, trying to keep their house.

Where Chapter 13 Is Most Common

Chapter 13 isn't evenly distributed across the country. Some states use it far more than others — not because people there are worse with money, but because of regional legal culture, the prevalence of certain types of debt, and which attorneys tend to recommend it.

Here are the ten states with the highest Chapter 13 filing rates per capita:

Alabama stands out dramatically: nearly 1 in every 340 Alabamans filed a Chapter 13 case last year. Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Georgia aren't far behind. If you're in one of these states, Chapter 13 is genuinely common — your neighbors, your coworkers, your relatives very likely have been through exactly what you're going through.

Why Is It Rising?

We won't pretend to have a definitive answer — economists debate this. But a few factors are probably contributing.

The post-pandemic debt hangover. The surge in 2023–2024 — when filings jumped over 10% year-over-year — lines up closely with the end of pandemic-era forbearance programs. Student loan payments resumed. Mortgage protections expired. Credit card balances hit record highs. For people who had been managing but barely, the floor eventually gave way.

Mortgage pressure. A lot of Chapter 13 cases are filed specifically to save a home from foreclosure. As interest rates rose and adjustable-rate mortgages reset, more homeowners found themselves behind.

Increased awareness.Bankruptcy has slowly become less stigmatized. More people know it's a legal tool — not a moral failure — and are using it as one.

What This Means for You

If you're in a Chapter 13 plan right now, you made a choice that over 200,000 people made last year alone. We made that choice too. None of us are outliers. None of us are uniquely bad at managing money. We're people who ran into hard circumstances and chose a structured, legal path through them.

That path has a finish line. The plan ends. The discharge comes. We know — we came out the other side.

We built MyChapter13.org because we lived this ourselves and wanted better tools than what existed. Upload your NDC files and see exactly where you stand — how much you've paid, where the money is going, and when this will finally be over.

We've got this. And we've got more company than we think.