Northern District of Iowa

Name: Northern District of Iowa Bankruptcy Filings FY2024
Creator: PlainBankruptcy
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Bankruptcy filings for the Northern District of Iowa - every Chapter 7, 11, 12, and 13 petition recorded in the district, from AOUSC Judicial Caseload Statistics.

Compiled by PlainBankruptcy

2,120
Total filings FY2024: 1,284
Chapter 7: 776
Chapter 13: 131
Business

Data updated August 2026

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The bottom line

The Northern District of Iowa recorded 2,120 bankruptcy filings in FY2024, 61% of them Chapter 7 liquidations - up 11.8% from FY2023.

61%
Chapter 7 (liquidation): 37%
Chapter 13 (repayment): 6.2%
business filings: +11.8%
vs FY2023

Fiscal year runs Oct–Sep; all cases here are federal, not state, filings. Not legal advice.

Consumer vs business filings, FY2024

AOUSC case-type split of the same 2,120 filings, orthogonal to the chapter mix farther down.

Nonbusiness (consumer) 1,989 filings (94%) Business 131 filings (6%)

Light-volume filing history (#75 of 90)

Total bankruptcy filings in the Northern District of Iowa by fiscal year. Source: AOUSC Judicial Caseload Statistics.

Year	Total	Ch. 7	Ch. 11	Ch. 12	Ch. 13	Business
FY2024	2,120	1,284	30	30	776	131
FY2023	1,896	1,184	25	37	650	117
FY2022	1,694	1,149	17	38	490	104
FY2021	1,808	1,284	18	46	460	111
FY2020	2,379	1,694	27	33	625	148
FY2019	3,387	2,117	26	25	1,219	210
FY2018	3,409	2,142	26	25	1,216	211
FY2017	3,356	2,191	27	29	1,109	207
FY2016	3,473	2,357	27	34	1,055	215
FY2015	3,691	2,515	28	32	1,116	229

Upper-band YoY trend & chapter mix

61%

Chapter 7 share

1,989

Consumer filings

Most common

Chapter 7 1,284 (61%)
Chapter 13 776 (37%)
Chapter 11 30 (1%)
Chapter 12 30 (1%)

How the 2,120 FY2024 filings split across the four bankruptcy chapters.

Northern District of Iowa filings rose 11.8% year-over-year, from FY2023 to FY2024.

Light-third district caseload

Northern District of Iowa in the light-volume third

2,120 FY2024 filings put Northern District of Iowa in the lightest third of federal districts (#75 of 90).

Over FY2015–FY2024, filings in the Northern District of Iowa fell 42.6%, roughly tracking the national decline of 42.5% over the same span.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many bankruptcy cases were filed in the Northern District of Iowa in FY2024?

The Northern District of Iowa had 2,120 bankruptcy filings in FY2024, the #75 busiest of the 90 federal districts by filing volume.

What is the difference between business and non-business bankruptcy filings?

The Northern District of Iowa had 131 business filings and 1,989 non-business (consumer) filings in FY2024.

Nationwide peers of a light-volume district

Two AOUSC peer sets for this light-volume Northern District of Iowa book in FY2024, both outside Iowa (same-state courts stay in Other districts below). Volume peers are nearest other-state districts by total filings; Chapter 13 peers are nearest by Ch.13 share of Chapter 7 plus 13 filings.

Similar filing volume

Nearest other-state districts by FY2024 total filings (2,120 here).

Western Arkansas 2,219 Maine 1,892 Delaware 1,891 New Hampshire 1,821

Similar Chapter 13 share

Nearest other-state districts by Chapter 13 share of Chapter 7 plus 13 filings.

Western Michigan 39% Ch.13 Eastern Michigan 39% Ch.13 Northern Illinois 36% Ch.13 Central Illinois 36% Ch.13

Data sourced from Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) Judicial Caseload Statistics. See our methodology for details. Northern District of Iowa FY2024 profile (#75 of 90 volume · #45 of 90 Ch.13 share · light-third district caseload) retrieved and formatted by PlainBankruptcy.