Key finding
- Excluding credit reporting, complaints per 100,000 residents rose in all 50 states and DC between 2023 and 2025. The median state rose 121%.
- In 2025 Georgia had the highest rate (385 per 100,000), followed by DC (305), Texas (288), Florida (273) and Louisiana (264).
- The eight largest increases (West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia) are all in the Census South region.
- A rate measures how often residents file complaints. It does not measure how companies behave in that state.
Counting complaints by state mostly shows which states have the most people. Dividing by population shows how often residents file. We did that for 2025 and compared it with 2023. We leave credit reporting out of the ranking: it was 88% of 2025 complaints and would otherwise decide the whole map. (Ranked with credit reporting included, Georgia is still first, but Mississippi is second and Florida third.)
Complaints per 100,000 residents, 2025, excluding credit reporting. Georgia is highest at 385; Vermont, South Dakota and Maine are among the lowest at about 47 to 52. Excludes credit reporting complaints and complaints with no state, from territories or from military addresses. Population: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 (used for both years). Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database; US Census Bureau; Kibbo Research analysis.
What the Data Shows
- Everything went up. Excluding credit reporting, complaints rose from 242,821 in 2023 to 628,246 in 2025 across the 50 states and DC. Every state's rate rose; the smallest increase was Vermont (+12%, 42 to 47), the median +121%, and 34 states more than doubled.
- Top rates in 2025. Georgia 385, DC 305, Texas 288, Florida 273, Louisiana 264, Delaware 262, Nevada 247, South Carolina 240, Maryland 229, Illinois 216. The lowest: Vermont 47, South Dakota 47, Maine 52.
- The largest increases are regional. West Virginia +287% (36 to 140), Arkansas +283% (44 to 168), Louisiana +280% (70 to 264), Texas +278% (76 to 288), Mississippi +258%, Alabama +211%, South Carolina +211%, Georgia +207%. All eight are in the Census South region. West Virginia and Arkansas started from low rates, so a large percentage is a smaller absolute change than in Georgia (+259 per 100,000).
- Share of complaints versus share of people (all complaints, 2025). Florida has 6.9% of the population and 14.6% of complaints (+7.8 percentage points). Texas +5.3, Georgia +4.6. California has 11.5% of the population and 9.3% of complaints (−2.2), Washington −1.6, Ohio −1.4. This is dominated by credit reporting.
- Same mix at the top. In Georgia, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and DC, credit reporting is 88% to 92% of complaints and debt collection comes second (3.7% to 6.7%).
- Templates do not explain the top states. Among the ten highest-rate states, the share of complaints that are shared templates ranges from 9.1% (Florida) to 14.7% (South Carolina), against 11.4% nationally. Georgia is 12.3%.
| State | 2023 rate | 2025 rate | Change |
|---|
| GA | 125.4 | 384.6 | +207% |
| DC | 184.8 | 304.6 | +65% |
| TX | 76.1 | 288.0 | +278% |
| FL | 107.1 | 273.2 | +155% |
| LA | 69.5 | 264.2 | +280% |
What We Cannot Say
- Why some states file more. Rates reflect awareness, access, demographics, outreach, and what is being filed, as well as company conduct. We did not test any of these.
- That a state is "worse". A high rate means residents file often, not that companies there act worse.
- Who filed. Location is the consumer's state as recorded; we do not know whether filings were prompted by a service or campaign.
Method and Limits
- CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, complaints received in calendar 2023 and 2025, 50 states + DC.
- Credit reporting product family excluded from the ranking (shown separately in the underlying data).
- Excluded from the state tables (2025): 8,375 with no state; 26,473 from territories (Puerto Rico 24,464, US Virgin Islands 1,683, American Samoa 175, Guam 128, Northern Mariana Islands 23); 1,202 from military addresses; 177 other. Sanity check: 51-state complaints plus these = 5,442,962, the official 2025 total.
- Population: Census Vintage 2025 for both years, so 2023 rates use 2025 population. Differences from using each year's own estimate are small. State population sum matches the Census total.
- Logged in our research log, Step 10.
Related
How to Cite
Kibbo Research (2026). CFPB Complaints per Capita: Every State Rose Between 2023 and 2025, and the Biggest Jumps Are in the South. getkibbo.com. https://www.getkibbo.com/investigations/cfpb-state-complaint-rates
