Bankruptcy Dismissal Rates by Federal District

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 dismissal rates for every major federal bankruptcy district, drawn directly from the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database.

Every federal bankruptcy district operates under the same Bankruptcy Code, but dismissal rates vary by more than 20 percentage points from one district to another. Local trustee practices, judge preferences, and attorney competence all affect how likely a case is to be dismissed before discharge.

Each page below shows the actual dismissal rate for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 in that district, broken down by year, by reason, and compared to the national benchmark. All figures come from the FJC Integrated Database - the public dataset of every federal bankruptcy case disposition.

Western District of Missouri

41,341 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.7%Ch. 13 dismissal: 43.6%

District of Kansas

40,849 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.5%Ch. 13 dismissal: 26.9%

Southern District of Florida

40,188 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 5.8%Ch. 13 dismissal: 47.0%

Southern District of Texas

30,151 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 2.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 63.2%

Northern District of Illinois

9,780 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.4%Ch. 13 dismissal: 54.8%

Central District of California

5,873 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.5%Ch. 13 dismissal: 63.4%

Middle District of Florida

5,387 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.3%Ch. 13 dismissal: 63.9%

Eastern District of Missouri

4,430 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 3.1%Ch. 13 dismissal: 74.1%

Northern District of Ohio

3,523 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.8%Ch. 13 dismissal: 49.2%

Southern District of Indiana

1,904 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 2.7%Ch. 13 dismissal: 25.0%

Western District of Tennessee

1,818 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 4.3%Ch. 13 dismissal: 82.7%

District of New Jersey

1,580 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 2.7%Ch. 13 dismissal: 69.0%

Eastern District of Pennsylvania

1,508 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

Eastern District of Wisconsin

1,452 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.5%Ch. 13 dismissal: 52.0%

Northern District of Indiana

1,421 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 35.3%

District of Massachusetts

1,356 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.9%Ch. 13 dismissal: 40.9%

Northern District of Georgia

1,135 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.6%Ch. 13 dismissal: 43.3%

Eastern District of Michigan

1,094 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 55.8%

Eastern District of Kentucky

1,079 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.1%Ch. 13 dismissal: 22.1%

Eastern District of New York

1,075 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.1%Ch. 13 dismissal: 75.4%

Eastern District of Virginia

1,058 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: 26.3%

Middle District of Alabama

1,020 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

Eastern District of California

772 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.7%Ch. 13 dismissal: 51.7%

Northern District of Alabama

723 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of South Carolina

635 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

Western District of Kentucky

613 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 3.7%Ch. 13 dismissal: 32.2%

Northern District of Texas

611 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Maryland

559 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Western District of Arkansas

533 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 34.9%

Southern District of Ohio

448 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Northern District of Florida

433 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.9%Ch. 13 dismissal: 68.8%

Eastern District of Arkansas

426 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 9.1%Ch. 13 dismissal: 63.3%

Middle District of North Carolina

420 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

Eastern District of North Carolina

407 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Minnesota

395 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.3%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Nevada

242 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 6.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 62.8%

Middle District of Georgia

105 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 3.2%Ch. 13 dismissal: 16.7%

Western District of Oklahoma

104 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Connecticut

93 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 4.8%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Western District of Wisconsin

89 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: 51.3%

Southern District of New York

87 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.5%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Colorado

86 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.2%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

District of Nebraska

75 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 0.0%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Western District of New York

69 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.8%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Southern District of California

69 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 2.3%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Central District of Illinois

68 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: 24.4%

Northern District of West Virginia

59 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: 1.9%Ch. 13 dismissal: n/a

Southern District of Illinois

50 consumer cases on file

Ch. 7 dismissal: n/aCh. 13 dismissal: 20.8%

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