Bankruptcy filings in the United States increased 11.4 percent in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2026, compared with the previous year, according to statistics released on October 22 by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Source: U.S. Courts — Bankruptcy Filings Increase 11.4 Percent

Total filings rose to 621,111 cases in the year ending September 2026, compared with 557,376 cases in the previous year. Business filings rose 12.5 percent, from 24,039 to 27,054, while non-business filings increased 11.4 percent to 594,057, compared with 533,337 a year earlier.

621,111total bankruptcy filings, year ending Sept. 30, 2026
11.4%increase from the previous year
27,054business filings, up 12.5%
594,057non-business filings, up 11.4%

By chapter, Chapter 7 filings totalled 391,386, Chapter 11 filings were 9,986, Chapter 12 filings were 361 and Chapter 13 filings were 219,116 in the year ending September 2026, the courts office said.

Still far below the 2010 peak

The courts office noted that for more than a decade total filings fell steadily, from a high of nearly 1.6 million in September 2010 to a low of 380,634 in June 2022, and that totals have increased each quarter since then while remaining far lower than historical highs.

Independent filing data for the first nine months of 2026 pointed in the same direction: Epiq AACER data reported by the American Bankruptcy Institute counted 469,719 total filings from January to September, up 11 percent from a year earlier, with small-business Subchapter V elections up 46 percent to 2,442.

Source: Epiq / ABI — Small Business Subchapter V Elections Increase 46%

Epiq AACER vice president Michael Hunter said in that release that the continued increase reflects the strain of higher borrowing costs, rising household expenses, growing consumer delinquencies and a softer job market, and that filing volumes were expected to keep climbing into 2027.