The 10 States with the Most People Living on the Edge of Financial Ruin

America's image is that of a place where anyone can grow up to be president, and even a college dropout can found a multibillion-dollar empire.

But one need only look at our finances to see not everyone gets out of the gate on equal footing. Overall, consumer household income has continually dropped over the the last decade, and at the same time, the costs of basic necessities like health insurance, housing, and education have continued to soar.

What has resulted is a deep divide between the rich and poor, and even more people -- both low- and middle-income earners -- who find themselves unable to save for even short-term emergencies.

A sobering new report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development shows nearly half of U.S. households (132.1 million people) wouldn't last three months if they ran into bumps in the road like unemployment, natural disasters, or a medical emergency.

In fact, more than 30 percent don't have a savings account at all, and another 8 percent don't even bank, period.

Using the CFED's detailed analysis of each state's financial security, we homed in on the 10 places where Americans would be least likely to cope in the face of unexpected disasters.



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