Instead of leading all states in the number of bankruptcy filings per household as it did only a few years ago, Utah slipped to 15th nationwide at the end of 2007, according to new data from the American Bankruptcy Institute.

And signs point to a similar ranking this year.

"For whatever reason, our home values haven't been impacted as much as in other states. That, along with our relatively strong economy and low unemployment probably have helped keep our numbers down [compared with elsewhere]," said Utah Chapter 13 bankruptcy court trustee Kevin Anderson.

It wasn't always the case.

For three consecutive years - 2002 through 2004 - Utah led the nation in the number of households that filed for bankruptcy. During the peak year of 2003, there was one bankruptcy filing for every 37 households in the state.

Yet as the nation's economic engine started to show signs of sputtering while Utah's continued to motor along, the number of insolvent households in the state gradually started to decline. Utah fell to No. 3 in the country behind Indiana and Ohio in 2005 and No.10 in the country the following year.

Other nearby states in the prospering Rocky Mountain region saw improvement in rankings as well.

Idaho was 11th among all states in the number of its households filing for bankruptcy in 2004. It fell to 20th last year. Arizona fell from 24th to 40th during that same time frame. Wyoming, 31st in the nation in 2004, captured the 46th spot at the end of 2007.

Using another measure, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts that tracks bankruptcy statistics nationwide reported last week that as of June 30, 2008, Utah was 22nd in the country with 2.87 bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 residents.

Tennessee had the most with nearly 7 bankruptcies filed for every 1,000 residents.

Where Utah goes from here, though, is anyone's guess, said Jean Lown, a professor of Family, Consumer and Human Development at Utah State University.

Lown, who has studied the reason Utahns seek court protection from their creditors, points to the state's rising foreclosure rate as a possible sign that the number of households filing for bankruptcy may rise back toward earlier levels.

"Historically, Utah always has tended to be a little bit out of sync in terms of the nation's economic cycles," Lown said. "When the rest of the country was doing badly we often were doing pretty well."

But now Utah is beginning to feel the impact of the nation's economic downturn which could bode badly for Utahns who are struggling to keep up with their bills. "This [No. 15] could be as low as we get," she said.