U.S. Bankruptcy Statistics (2026): Filings by Year, Chapter, and Trend
In the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, Americans filed 591,850 bankruptcy cases, up 11.9 percent year over year, per the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. About 96 percent (565,890) were non-business (consumer) filings. Chapter 7 led with 369,702 filings versus 211,700 for Chapter 13. Filings have risen every quarter since mid-2022 but remain far below the 2010 peak of nearly 1.6 million.
Journalists, researchers, students, and anyone writing about consumer debt: this page collects the current official numbers on U.S. bankruptcy in one place, with sources linked for every figure. Feel free to cite it; better yet, cite the federal sources alongside it. Numbers below come from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) unless noted, and we update this page as new quarterly data is released.
The headline numbers
In the 12-month period ending March 31, 2026, per the AO's April 2026 release:
- Total filings: 591,850, up 11.9 percent from 529,080 the year before
- Non-business (consumer) filings: 565,890, up 11.9 percent, about 96 percent of all cases
- Business filings: 25,960, up 11.4 percent
For calendar year 2025, the AO reported 574,314 total filings, of which 549,577 were consumer cases. The plain-English version we use across this site: more than half a million Americans file every year.
Five-year trend: total, business, and consumer filings
Twelve-month periods ending March 31, from AO data:
| Year (ending Mar 31) | Business | Non-business | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 25,960 | 565,890 | 591,850 |
| 2025 | 23,309 | 505,771 | 529,080 |
| 2024 | 20,316 | 447,458 | 467,774 |
| 2023 | 14,467 | 388,806 | 403,273 |
| 2022 | 13,160 | 382,213 | 395,373 |
The shape of the story: filings fell for over a decade, from a peak of nearly 1.6 million in September 2010 (the hangover of the 2008 financial crisis) to a modern low of 380,634 in June 2022, and have risen every quarter since, double-digit percentage increases in each of the last several years. Even after that climb, current totals sit at roughly a third of the 2010 peak.
Filings by chapter
Twelve-month periods ending March 31, all chapters, from the same AO tables:
| Year | Chapter 7 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 369,702 | 9,941 | 312 | 211,700 |
| 2025 | 320,571 | 8,844 | 259 | 199,130 |
| 2024 | 271,825 | 8,036 | 155 | 187,539 |
| 2023 | 231,200 | 5,371 | 148 | 166,449 |
| 2022 | 265,071 | 4,333 | 228 | 125,655 |
What the table says in words:
- Chapter 7 is the workhorse of consumer bankruptcy: 369,702 filings in the year ending March 2026, about 64 percent of the two main consumer chapters combined, and growing faster (15.3 percent year over year) than Chapter 13 (6.3 percent).
- Chapter 13 (the 3-to-5-year repayment plan) added 211,700 filings.
- Chapter 11 is overwhelmingly a business tool, and Chapter 12 (family farmers and fishermen) is a rounding error by volume.
Context statistics worth citing carefully
A few widely repeated numbers, with the honest sourcing notes we apply in our course:
- No-asset cases: In the vast majority of consumer Chapter 7 cases, over 9 in 10 per analyses of U.S. Trustee data, the trustee sells nothing and filers keep everything they own.
- Medical debt: One of the most commonly cited contributors to consumer bankruptcy. Beware precise percentages (the famous "66 percent" figure comes from one contested survey methodology; other peer-reviewed work estimates far lower causal shares). "A leading commonly cited contributor" is the defensible phrasing.
- Credit reporting: Chapter 7 remains on credit reports up to 10 years from filing, Chapter 13 typically 7, per the credit bureaus, details here.
- Repeat filing limits: A Chapter 7 discharge is available once every 8 years, rules here.
Sources and citation
Primary sources: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Bankruptcies Increase 11.9 Percent (Apr. 23, 2026) and Bankruptcy Filings Rise 11 Percent (Feb. 4, 2026); the AO's bankruptcy filings statistics portal; and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Citing this page: "U.S. Bankruptcy Statistics, Bankruptcy School (bankruptcy.school), compiled from Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts data." Questions or corrections: support@bankruptcy.school.
Related questions
How many people file bankruptcy each year in the US?
More than half a million. Federal court data shows 591,850 total filings in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, of which 565,890 were non-business (consumer) cases. Calendar year 2025 saw 574,314 total filings.
Is Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 more common?
Chapter 7. In the 12 months ending March 2026 there were 369,702 Chapter 7 filings versus 211,700 Chapter 13 filings, roughly 64 percent Chapter 7 among the two main consumer chapters.
Are bankruptcies going up or down?
Up, from a historic low. Filings have increased every quarter since June 2022, including 11.9 percent in the year ending March 2026, but totals remain far below the September 2010 peak of nearly 1.6 million.
This is education, not legal advice. Bankruptcy law is federal, but exemptions and key details vary by state, and every situation is different. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Before you make decisions about your finances, talk to a licensed bankruptcy attorney in your state. This article should make that conversation easier, not replace it.