Top 10 US States by CFPB Consumer Complaint Volume
PlainComplaint ranks all US states by total CFPB complaint count, recalculated live from the current data.
Research period:
Every figure on PlainComplaint is rendered directly from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
Research question
Across US states reported in the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, which carry the highest absolute complaint counts, and how do their dominant complaint products differ?
Methodology
This ranking shows the top 10 US states by total CFPB complaints, plus the number of companies involved, the top product, and the top company for each. Every number comes directly from the current PlainComplaint data; nothing is hardcoded, and the ranking updates automatically whenever the underlying CFPB dataset is refreshed.
Coverage and exclusions: states with no recorded complaints, or where the CFPB has suppressed a value (for confidentiality, small sample size, or quality control), are excluded from this ranking rather than shown as zero. If the CFPB later revises a figure, the revised value appears here automatically on the next refresh.
Outliers are shown as published, we do not silently clip or adjust unusual values; readers can follow the source link for context. Where the CFPB revises its release schedule or definitions, we note the change and avoid comparing incompatible vintages directly.
Transparency: every number on this page traces back to the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. A named editor reviews each ranking before publication (see the byline above), and corrections can be requested through the contact channels in the footer. See the methodology page for the full source, refresh cadence, and citation format.
Top 10 US States by CFPB Consumer Complaint Volume
Live data, updated as the CFPB dataset refreshes
The ranked top 10
Every row below reflects the current dataset of 10 qualifying records. Figures update automatically as the source data is refreshed.
| # | State | Complaints | Companies named | Top product | Top company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 2,213,815 | 3,600 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 2 | Texas | 2,197,294 | 3,697 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 3 | California | 1,621,686 | 3,800 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 4 | Georgia | 1,199,680 | 2,874 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 5 | New York | 950,533 | 2,499 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 6 | Illinois | 695,806 | 2,369 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 643,042 | 2,324 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 8 | North Carolina | 554,685 | 2,342 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 9 | New Jersey | 520,669 | 2,106 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports | |
| 10 | Maryland | 403,076 | 2,071 | Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports |
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. Values recalculate live from the current PlainComplaint data and refresh whenever the source dataset updates. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. Values recalculate live from the current PlainComplaint data and refresh whenever the source dataset updates.
Findings
Top entity in the ranking
The top-ranked record in this dataset is Florida, with a value of 2,213,815 on the Complaints column. The full top-10 set is shown in the table above; no number is hardcoded into this page. When the source agency publishes a revision, the ranking updates automatically on the next page load.
Distribution shape
The gap between the top-ranked record (2,213,815) and the 10th-ranked record (403,076) characterizes how concentrated the top of the distribution is. Where the top value is many multiples of the median value of the visible set, the population is highly concentrated, a small number of entities accumulate the bulk of the measured quantity. Where the top and bottom of the visible set are close together, the distribution is relatively flat across the top end. The full distribution beyond this top-10 cut is summarized in the aggregate context section below and explored in the linked entity profiles.
Aggregate context
Across the full states population, the summary figures below anchor the top-10 ranking against the underlying population: how many states exist in total, the total complaint volume across all of them, and the mean per-state value. States with no recorded complaints are excluded from this summary, matching the ranking above.
Source provenance
The records in this ranking originate from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. PlainComplaint recalculates this ranking live on every page load, so there is no stale exported copy; a refreshed CFPB dataset propagates to this page within hours. See the methodology page for the source URL and data vintage.
Why this ranking matters
Rankings like this one let a reader scan a population quickly and identify outliers, concentrations, and patterns that warrant deeper investigation. The detail pages linked from each entity in the table above give the full per-entity context: history over time where available, related metrics, and links onward to the underlying source records. The methodology page explains how a state qualifies for this ranking and how the underlying figure is calculated.
What this analysis cannot tell us
State-level complaint counts are not adjusted for state population, household income, financial-services density, or product mix. California and Texas will tend to dominate raw counts because they are the largest states with the most financial-service consumers, this does not imply that California consumers experience disproportionately worse service. The top_product and top_company columns reflect the highest single category by count within the state and do not reveal the underlying distribution shape. State assignment in the CFPB database reflects the consumer's reported state at time of filing, which may not match the firm's headquartered state or the state where the disputed product was originated. Complaint volume varies year-to-year with regulatory enforcement focus, mortgage-cycle conditions, and consumer awareness of the CFPB filing channel; cross-year comparison requires controlling for these macro factors. Per-capita complaint analysis would require joining external Census population estimates which sit outside the current ETL scope.
Secondary cut from the same source
Top 10 states by distinct firms named, measures market breadth of complaint activity
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Complaint Database - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/consumer-complaints/