A recent analysis by Lexington Law ranks Buncombe County #35 on a list of N.C. counties by personal bankruptcy rates. With 14.16 bankruptcies per 10,000 residents from March 31, 2014 to March 31, 2015, Buncombe ranks worse than McDowell (#44) Henderson (#48), Transylvania (#60), Madison (#80) and Polk (#85) counties.
Five other western counties — Avery (#90), Clay (#92), Mitchell (#94), Swain (#96) and Jackson (#97) — had the distinction of finishing at the bottom of the list, which in this case was a positive result.
By far the greatest number of personal bankruptcies in North Carolina occurred in Northampton County, a county of about 22,000 located on the North Carolina-Virginia border in the eastern part of the state. With over 20% of its population living below the poverty line, the county reported 135.8 bankruptcies per 10,000 residents.
The firm that conducted the analysis is a consumer advocacy law firm focused on consumer credit report repair. See the complete list of North Carolina counties on the Lexington Law website.
Lexington Law also looked at bankruptcy rates by state. With an average of 16.71 bankruptcies per 10,000 residents, North Carolina was about average compared to other U.S. states. Tennessee had the highest number of bankruptcies per capita of any U.S. state, followed by Georgia and Alabama.
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