OP-ED: Where Americans Are Most At Risk of Losing Homes

By Trey Thoelcke Updated Dec 23, 10:29AM EST · Published Dec 23, 7:05AM EST

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OP-ED: Where Americans Are Most At Risk of Losing Homes — © gk-6mt / iStock via Getty Images

By Christina Hughes Babb, originally published at DSNews

American homeowners and lenders, despite widespread foreclosure bans and forbearance programs, eventually will face a reality that could include a surge of foreclosures and evictions. Some areas of the country are at more risk of mass foreclosures than others. The data journalists at Visual Capitalist have created graphic maps and interactive charts to show the share of people in each state who are at most risk of losing their homes.

The researchers and editors utilized U.S. Census data which showed that of the estimated 17 million adults who are not current on their rent or mortgage payments, 33% of them could be facing eviction or foreclosure in the next two months. (The authors noted that, while this survey was conducted November 11-23, respondents’ interpretations of “the next two months” ranged between November 2020–January 2021.)

“Although people across the country face similar risks, Texas stands out with an estimated 718,000 people facing foreclosures or eviction,” wrote researcher Avery Koop. “In fact, more than 7.1 million people in the state may be expecting a loss of employment income in the coming four weeks.”

Other states looking at high percentages of potential home loss include Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Missouri.

By metro area, those at highest risk of foreclosure include:

Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Phoenix.

As for those at least risk, the study showed only a handful of metro areas—Delaware, Vermont, Maryland, and Utah—showed “relative housing security” for its residents in the coming months.

The full list of foreclosure-risk data by metro is available at visualcapitalist.com.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.