Bankruptcy Costs by State: 6 Costs That Vary and the Filing Fee That Does Not

The filing fee for a bankruptcy case is the same in Mobile as in Morgantown, and it is the least interesting number in any state. Bankruptcy is federal law, the fee is set by 28 U.S.C. 1930 and the Judicial Conference, and on the judiciary's current fee schedule a Chapter 7 petition costs $338, a Chapter 13 petition $313, and a Chapter 11 petition $1,738, whether it is filed in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, or West Virginia.

So the question of what bankruptcy costs in a particular state is really a question about the six things that do vary. Some of them change the price of the case. One of them changes what the debtor walks away with, which for an individual owner is the larger sum.

1. Lawyers Price Their Work Against the Local Market

The rules of professional conduct make locality part of the fee analysis in so many words. New York's Rule 1.5, for example, lists "the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services" among the factors for deciding whether a fee is excessive. A Chapter 7 in Tulsa and a Chapter 7 in Phoenix involve the same federal forms and the same trustee duties. They need not carry the same fee.

No figure is given here for any state. A fee quoted without the case attached is a guess, and a guess repeated across nine states is nine guesses.

2. Chapter 13 Fee Presumptions Are Set by Each District

Some bankruptcy courts publish an amount of Chapter 13 attorney compensation that counsel may receive with a simplified application. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania, whose rule was verified for this page, sets its pre-confirmation thresholds at $6,633 for above-median debtors and $5,335 for below-median debtors in cases filed on or after April 1, 2025.

That is a Pennsylvania figure.

Whether the districts covering the nine states named above publish similar amounts, and what they are, was not confirmed for this page, and a reader in any of them should ask counsel for the local figure rather than borrow a neighbor's.

3. Exemptions Decide What an Individual Keeps, and They Are State Law

For an owner filing personally, often because of a guaranty on a merchant cash advance or a bank line, the largest variable in the whole case is the exemption schedule. Section 522(b) of the Bankruptcy Code lets an individual choose either the federal list or the state list, unless the state has opted out and requires its own. The results diverge more than most people expect.

Iowa measures its homestead in land, not dollars. Iowa Code 561.2 limits it to one half acre within a city plat and forty acres elsewhere, section 561.16 exempts it from judicial sale, and Iowa Code 627.10 denies Iowa debtors the federal list.

Louisiana combines land and money. Under R.S. 20:1 the homestead may include up to five acres within a municipality or two hundred outside one, but the exemption from seizure extends to $35,000 in value, with a full-value exception for obligations arising from catastrophic or terminal illness or injury.

Oklahoma deserves a slower reading from anyone who runs a business out of the house. Under 31 O.S. 2, an urban homestead is limited to one acre, and if more than 25 percent of the square footage of the improvements is used for business purposes, the exemption may not exceed $5,000. Tools and books of a trade are exempt under 31 O.S. 1 up to $10,000 in aggregate value.

West Virginia writes a list for bankruptcy alone. W. Va. Code 38-10-4 allows a debtor to exempt up to $35,000 in a residence, $7,500 in one motor vehicle, and $3,000 in tools of the trade.

Ohio has opted out of the federal list under R.C. 2329.662, and its residence exemption, adjusted every third April 1, stands at $182,625 for the period from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2028, according to the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Ohio. Virginia also opted out, in Va. Code 34-3.1, and its homestead statute, section 34-4, allows $5,000 (or $10,000 for a householder 65 or older) plus up to $50,000 in a principal residence. Arizona's homestead under A.R.S. 33-1101 protects up to $400,000 in equity, adjusted each year for inflation since January 1, 2024.

On July 1, 2026, Georgia's exemption under O.C.G.A. 44-13-100(a)(1) rose from $21,500 to $50,000 for an individual, according to an announcement from the bankruptcy court for the Middle District of Georgia. A Georgia owner who filed in June and one who filed in July live under different numbers. Alabama's homestead under Ala. Code 6-10-2 is also adjusted for inflation, with the amount that applies depending on when the petition is filed, and a reader there should confirm the current figure with counsel.

None of this protects a company. Exemptions belong to individuals, and an LLC's equipment and receivables have no homestead to shelter in.

And exemptions are fixed by the law in effect on the filing date, which makes the calendar, in Georgia this year, a cost of its own.

4. Who Supervises the Case Changes by State

In most of the country, the U.S. Trustee Program supervises bankruptcy administration. Georgia falls within Region 21, Ohio within Region 9, Virginia and West Virginia within Region 4, and Arizona within Region 14, according to the Trustee Program's directory of regions and offices.

Alabama is different. Bankruptcy cases there are overseen by a Bankruptcy Administrator in each of the state's three districts, an office within the judiciary, and the Southern District of Alabama's Chapter 11 page directs that the Chapter 11 quarterly fee be paid to the clerk of the bankruptcy court. The fee exists in both systems. Only the payee differs.

5. Local Rules Add Steps to Business Cases

A business filing brings the court's local rules into play, and some of those rules create work that counsel bills for. In Arizona, the bankruptcy court's Local Rule 1002-1 schedules an initial status conference in every Chapter 11 case, and Local Rule 4001-4 requires at least twenty-four hours' advance notice to the U.S. Trustee for motions seeking accelerated hearings in the first thirty days. The Southern District of Ohio designates certain large non-individual Chapter 11 cases as complex, generally where debts reach $10 million, and the Eastern District of Virginia applies complex-case procedures above $15 million in liquidated debt, with an election available between $7.5 million and $15 million. Most small businesses will never meet those thresholds. They still file under the ordinary local rules, which differ from courthouse to courthouse.

6. Distance to the Courthouse Matters Less Where Meetings Run by Video

Arizona's bankruptcy court maintains locations in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Flagstaff, and Bullhead City, and its Phoenix office at 230 North 1st Avenue does not accept cash. Columbus filers in the Southern District of Ohio use the courthouse at 170 North High Street. Alabama's Northern District has courthouses in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Anniston, among others.

The meeting of creditors, the one event most debtors attend, is where travel used to add up. In districts under the Trustee Program, the Program says almost all such meetings are now held virtually using Zoom; practice in Alabama's Bankruptcy Administrator districts was not checked for this page.

The Fee That Stays Put, and a Route Outside Court

The filing fee is the one line that stays the same from one state to the next, and it is small beside the exemption line. Delancey Street, which is not a law firm, does not file bankruptcy cases in any state and claims no office in any of the states named here. It offers owners carrying merchant cash advance debt a free, confidential review of whether a negotiated settlement is realistic, and independently licensed attorneys handle anything legal. An owner whose home sits in a state with a modest exemption, or who needs the automatic stay, should get a bankruptcy lawyer's view on that state's numbers before choosing any route.