United States - Bankruptcy: Personal - Total

For the U.S., the count of bankruptcy filings at the U.S. District Courts, by chapter (personal and business), on three time bases: per month, per quarter, and per 12-month rolling period. Geographic granularity varies by frequency but includes the nation, states, metro areas and counties.

• Measurement: Unitary count (#)
• Cumulations:
  • 3-month rolling periods (3-mo. EOP)
  • 12-month rolling periods (12-mo. EOP)
• Adjustments:
  • Not seasonally adjusted (SA)
  • Seasonally adjusted (SA)
• Native frequency: Quarterly
• Start date: As early as 1980Q4
• Geo vintages:
  • OMB 17-01
  • OMB 18-03
  • OMB 18-04
  • OMB 23-01
• Geo coverage, as reported:
• Country (IUSA)
• State and DC (51x ^^)
• State-equivalent insular territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands (4x ^^)
• County (3,286x aannn)
• U.S. district court area (61x aa_Da)
• Geo coverage, as calculated by Moody's Analytics:
  • Census region and division (13x C^^^)
  • Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) (534x IUSA_M^^^)
  • Metropolitan division (53x IUSA_DM^^^)
  • Micropolitan area (702x IUSA_O^^^)
  • Combined statistical area (CSA) (346x IUSA_CS^^^)
  • Combined NECTA (3x IUSA_CSN^^^)
• All concept-geo combinations exist: No

Predecessors:

• Census 2000 metro areas (M^^^, O^^^)

Counting periods

The time series count the number of bankruptcy filings during a given period: A month, a quarter ("three month ending"), or a 12-month rolling period (quarterly). For instance, the 2018Q2 value for "12 month ending" would be the sum of filings during the previous rolling year: the four periods 2017Q3, 2017Q4, 2018Q1, and 2018Q2.

Counting periods vary by geographic level. Monthly data is available for the U.S. and some states; the MSA- and county-level data are 12-month ending. All high frequency series are reported quarterly.

The corresponding Moody's Analytics forecast is structured with two periods: (a) 12-month rolling periods and (b) three-month periods SAAR (seasonally adjusted, annualized rate).  The annualized rate makes them comparable to the 12-month data.  The majority of Moody's Analytics forecasts are quarterly.

Data collection

The personal bankruptcy data are compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts from the reports of the various circuits of the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.  (Bankruptcy petitions must be filed in federal, not state, courts.)

Beginning in 1980, personal bankruptcies have been collected on a household basis; before 1980 they were calculated on a population basis. Thus, a husband and wife filing for bankruptcy before 1980 were counted as two bankruptcy filings; since 1980 they have been counted as one filing.

Filings by type

In its current form, the U.S. bankruptcy code contains five "operative" chapters under which a bankruptcy petition may be filed.

Chapter 7

Sets forth the provisions relating to liquidation of a debtor's assets. A trustee is appointed to collect and liquidate the assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors in accordance with set priorities.

Chapter 9

A reorganization of debts (like a Chapter 11) but is exclusively available to municipalities and public agencies.

Chapter 11

A reorganization where a debtor seeks to rehabilitate and reorganize its financial structure. Is normally used by businesses but can be filed by an individual debtor. Added in 1986.

Chapter 12

Developed for family farmers exclusively. Seeks to reorganize and rehabilitate the financial structure of the debtor. Normally it allows a debtor to propose a plan to pay creditors.

Chapter 13

Known as the wage earners' chapter. It allows a debtor with disposable income to propose a plan to pay the creditors in full or in part. The plan is three or five years and percentage of payback ranges from 0% to 100%. Cannot be filed if a debtor has unsecured debts of more than $100,000, or secured debts more than $350,000.

Chapter 15

For cross-border cases, i.e., when the debtors, assets, claimants and other parties reside in more than one country. The U.S. domestic adoption of the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency promulgated by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ("UNCITRAL") in 1997; replaces section 304 of the Bankruptcy Code. Added in 2005.

Definition changes and effect on data

On 20 April 2005, the President signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (Pub. L. No. 109-08, 119 Stat. 23.) The Act made significant changes to the Bankruptcy Code and affected nearly every aspect of bankruptcy cases. The Act generally took effect on 17 October 2005.

Accordingly, the new law affected data starting with the 2005Q4 period. The blip at that time can be explained by a higher than usual number of filings before the law went into effect.

Moody's Analytics supplements

We construct additive identities (across filing-category concepts) at the geo levels of country, region and state. Such series carry a secondary source citation of "Moody's Analytics Calculated."

We construct seasonally adjusted supplements at the same geo levels. We use the U.S. Census Bureau's X-13ARIMA-SEATS program. Such series carry a secondary source citation of "Moody's Analytics Adjusted."

We construct geo aggregates at CBSA geo levels (metropolitan statisical area, metropolitan division, micropolitan area, combined statisical area) under four delineations (OMB 17-01, 18-03, 18-04 and 23-01). These series carry a secondary source citation of "Moody's Analytics Calculated."

As of 2025, we estimate counties that are not reported by the source, viz., in Alaska (AK063 and AK066) and Connecticut (the nine planning regions, CT1^^). These are marked as "Moody's Analytics Estimated."

Each count is reported in three analytic variants: single-month (not revised), cumulative three-month (revised) and cumulatie 12-month (revised). Hence, there is not perfect aditivity between the three variants. This is similar to Census Bureau measurements of housing permits.

Further reading

At the source, rules:

• Rules, forms and resources relating to bankruptcy
• Basics before October 17, 2005 (pdf)
• Basics afterward (pdf)
• Basics on Chapter 7
• Basics on Chapter 9
• Basics on Chapter 11
• Basics on Chapter 12
• Basics on Chapter 13
• Basics on Chapter 15

At the source, data:

• Bankruptcy filings (list of tables)
• Caseload statistics data tables (list of tables)

• Jun 2005 - Initial version.
• Apr 2016 - Change in geo codes for counties in AK, SD and VA.
• Mar 2019 - Addendum of geo supplements for OMB 18-04 delineations.
• Mar 2020 - Deleted NECTA geos.
• Oct 2021 - Redefinition of Chapter 12 counts.
• Nov 2022 - Addendum of Chapters 9 and 15.
• 13 Jun 2025, Phillip Thorne - Addendum of OMB 23-01 areas, AK, CT: Properties, Moody's Analytics Supplements.