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by WILL FOLKS
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While South Carolina’s increasingly out-of-touch political leaders bicker over their political pork – and play a game of succession on the national stage – citizens of the Palmetto State continue groaning under the weight of their poor decision-making.
According to consumer financial website WalletHub, South Carolina ranks No. 5 nationally on a new list of states whose citizens are facing financial distress.
Surprised? You should’t be…
So-called “Republican” supermajorities have been investing in bigger bureaucracy and failed corporate welfare schemes for decades, which is one reason why affordability concerns are far more pronounced in the Palmetto State than elsewhere in America.
Now we have another data point (several of them, actually) proving that…
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“Americans have faced significant financial challenges in recent years, as inflation, shifting unemployment levels, public health emergencies and natural disasters have made it more difficult for many households to stay on top of their bills,” WalletHub experts observed. “As a result, a growing number of people have experienced financial distress, which WalletHub defines as having a credit account in forbearance or with payments deferred due to financial hardship.”
“To better understand where financial distress is most prevalent, WalletHub compared all 50 states across nine key metrics,” these experts added. “The analysis examines factors such as average credit scores, changes in bankruptcy filings between March 2025 and March 2026, and the share of residents with accounts in distress.”
How did South Carolina stack up? Not well…
In addition to being the fifth-most “distressed” state in the nation economically overall, South Carolina ranked No. 2 nationally in terms of citizens with credit accounts in distress – one of six key indicators the study’s researchers examined. The Palmetto State also ranked No. 4 nationally in terms of the number of distressed accounts – and No. 13 nationally in terms of its uptick in bankruptcy filings.
“When you combine data about people delaying payments with other metrics like bankruptcy filings and credit score changes, it paints a good picture of the overall economic trends of a state,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said.
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RELATED | ‘THE ECONOMY, STUPID‘
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Clearly, the overall economic trend in South Carolina is not good…
The release of this data comes at a pivotal moment in the Palmetto State. As this article went to press, leaders of the GOP-controlled S.C. House of Representatives and State Senate were battling back and forth over South Carolina’s fiscal year 2026-2027 state budget – which was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026 (two weeks ago).
A tentative agreement between the two chambers collapsed on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) due to disputed pork barrel spending. For the time being, that means government appropriations will remain locked at the previous fiscal year’s levels – something I have repeatedly argued is a good thing for the South Carolina economy.
So long as the stalemate persists, billions of dollars in proposed bureaucratic excess remain un-obligated – money that could be used in the coming fiscal year to enact comprehensive tax relief. State senator Tom Davis – one of the leading fiscal conservatives in the S.C. General Assembly – said as much during negotiations this week.
“I want to pass a budget,” Davis told reporters. “I’d like to see state employees get their pay increases. But again, a CR is better than a bad budget – and it would leave all that money unappropriated. That would set the General Assembly up next year for some truly historic tax relief.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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