Map of the Day: Share of Adults with Debt in Collections

When it comes to debt in collections, not all regions of the country are equal.  As the map above shows, there are "great regional differences and geographic concentrations of debt in collections." New England – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont – has the lowest concentration of reported debt in collections, although it is still a substantial 25 percent. In some areas of the South and West 4 of every 10 adults you see on the street have a debt collector calling their house.  Also of interest, among people with a report of debt in collections, the average amount owed is $5,178.