Failed banks in the US: mapping the crisis

Failed US banks are on the increase. Photograph: Veer/Getty Images

Failed banks in the US have become such a regular event that many have stopped noticing them. But the effects live on.

Last week, regulators shut down six banks in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Kansas - making 138 US failed banks this year alone in the wake of the US sub-prime and housing crisis. So far.

And the economy is a big issue in the US midterm elections 2010 - with high unemployment and a recovery that hasn't materialised for many Americans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures banks for at least $250,000 per customer. It is the body which took over the banks last week - the largest of which was Hillcrest Bank, based in Kansas, with $1.6bn in assets. Also closed last week were First Bank of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida, with $81m in assets; Progress Bank of Florida, based in Tampa, with $110.7m in assets; First National Bank of Barnesville in Georgia, with $131.4m in assets; Gordon Bank in Georgia, with $29.4m in assets; and First Suburban National Bank in Maywood, Illinois, with $148.7m in assets.

What are assets? In the topsy-turvy world of banking assets are money that people owe the bank, such as a mortgage. The total for those that have failed since 2008 is $630bn - that's over $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the US.

Failed banks across the US. Click here to see the map fullscreen

The FDIC keeps records on failed banks back to 1935 - and we thought it would be interesting to see how those that have failed in this recession - since 2008 - mapped out across the US. Where are the worst affected places?

In terms of numbers, the worst-affected place was Georgia - with 46 failed banks since 2008. It's followed closely by Florida with 43. You can see how the South has suffered inordinately in the crisis, with Atlanta covered in dots. But it's not just the south - Chicago also has a high number of failures.

But many of these banks were small, with few assets, and even smaller deposits. What if we looked at the amount of assets owed to each bank by state - and then divided those figures by that state's population to get a representative number?

Failed US banks by assets per person, per state. Click here for the fullscreen version

Thanks to Many Eyes, we get a different picture - with Nevada, where ten banks have failed since 2008, massively outweighing every other state. There, the combined assets of every bank that has failed since 2008 are worth $119,323.90 for every man, woman and child in the state. Compare that to Pennsylvania, where only one bank has failed - the equivalent of $1 per head.

Is this the worse it's ever been? 2010 does look set to be the worst year of this recession, with more banks going bust than by this stage last year. But how does it compare to other recessions in US history?

Roll over the line to get the numbers

Thanks to Timetric, we can see that it has a bit of a way to go reach the heights of the 1990s recession - but relatively there are fewer banks now and we are not at the end of this particular crisis.

The full data from the FDIC going back to 1935 is below. What can you do with it?

Click heading to sort

Assets in failed banks, $ per person

• DATA: download the full failed banks list as a spreadsheet

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