By Elizabeth Troutman |

Four Arizona cities made it onto a list of America’s least financially distressed cities. 

Last month, WalletHub released the results of their comparison of the 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine key metrics. The personal-finance website determined cities are the most and least financially distressed in light of inflation making it more difficult for Americans to keep up with payments on their loans and lines of credit.

Glendale was 92nd on the list, followed by Chandler at 97, Gilbert at 98, and Scottsdale at 99. 

“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat,”  WalletHub Analyst Cassandra Happe said in a news release. “You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off.”

“People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control,” she continued. 

Chicago, Illinois was the city with the most financial stress.

“It seems that in the Windy City, people’s financial security is also blowing away,” Happe said. “The share of Chicago residents who are allowed to skip debt payments due to financial difficulties went up by nearly 30% between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023.”

Additionally, Chicago residents had the third-most accounts in distress per person, according to Happe.

“Financial distress may increase further, too, as Chicago has some of the highest Google search interest in the country for terms like ‘debt’ and ‘loans,’ which indicates that people need to borrow even more,” she said. 

After Chicago, Houston, Texas had the second most financial stress, followed by New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Riverside, and Jacksonville. 

Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.