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, and even though the job market has showed steady improvement over the past few months, the unemployment rate still sits at 8.4%. In addition, while all state economies are now at least partially reopened, spikes in COVID-19 have led some states to delay moving on to the next stage of reopening or even to close down businesses they previously reopened. It will take a long time to reverse the economic damage done by coronavirus, especially since Congress was unable to pass another stimulus package before the benefits from the first one lapsed. Consequently, many Americans 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.
New York State ranked #1 aw the state with the highest need for loans. This included being the 5th highest state with online searches for all loans. It also came out the second and third highest state where residents did online searches for “Payday Loans,” and “Home Equity Loans” searches respectively.