A new study has confirmed what many locals are already feeling: San Antonio has one of the highest shares of people in financial distress in the nation.

San Antonio ranked No. 6 in WalletHub's just-released report, "Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress," which analyzed 100 of the largest U.S. cities across nine personal finance metrics: average credit scores and year-over-year changes; the share of residents with accounts in distress and year-over-year changes; the average number of accounts in distress; year-over-year change in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025; and "debt" and "loans" search interest indexes.

For the purpose of this study, WalletHub defined "financial distress" as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments.

The top three cities with the most people in financial distress are Chicago (No. 1), Houston (No. 2), and Las Vegas, Nevada (No. 3).

According to the report's findings, San Antonians had the highest search interest nationally for terms like "loans," and it ranked 16th nationally in WalletHub's "debt" search interest index. Residents in San Antonio also had the 16th highest nationwide increase in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of San Antonio's overall ranking:

• No. 21 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
• No. 24 – People with accounts in distress rank
• No. 48 – Credit score rank

"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," Lupo said.

No Texas city is feeling the financial squeeze as much as Houston, which ranked as the second-most financially distressed city nationwide for 2026.

"Houston has a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities, at over 8 percent, and it also has a high number of accounts in distress per person," the report said. "Similar to Chicago, Houston also shows some of the highest Google search interest in the country for terms like 'debt' and 'loans,' indicating a strong need for borrowing."

Dallas (No. 4) and Austin (No. 9) also ranked among WalletHub's top 10 most financially distressed U.S. cities for 2026.

The top 10 most financially distressed cities in the nation are:

• No. 1 – Chicago
• No. 2 – Houston
• No. 3 – Las Vegas
• No. 4 – Dallas
• No. 5 – Los Angeles
• No. 6 – San Antonio
• No. 7 – Atlanta
• No. 8 – New York
• No. 9 – Austin
• No. 10 – Phoenix