Falling Behind
Total loan delinquency across all consumer debt types
What is the current Falling Behind?
The total delinquency rate across all consumer loan balances reached 4.8% in Q4 2025, according to the New York Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report. The pandemic-era policy floor that suppressed delinquency from 2020 through 2022 has fully unwound, and the rate continues climbing across most loan categories. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The broadest measure of how Americans are managing their debt has climbed steadily for three years, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The total delinquency rate across all consumer loan balances reached 4.8% in Q4 2025, according to the New York Fed's Household Debt and Credit Report. This is the strongest level since 2020 and marks a steady climb from the 2.5% pandemic-era low in Q4 2022. The pandemic relief programs — forbearance, stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment — temporarily suppressed delinquency to historically low levels. That suppression is fully unwound.
The stress is not uniform across loan types. The FHA Signal shows FHA mortgage delinquency running far above the conventional-mortgage rate — a widening gap that reveals which borrowers are under the most pressure. The Repo Line shows auto loan serious delinquency at a Great Recession-recovery-era level.
What's distinct about the current deterioration is that it's happening during a period of relatively low unemployment. In previous cycles, delinquency rose sharply during recessions when job losses cut household income. This time, the pressure is coming from the cost side: The Other Banks shows credit card delinquency at small banks running well above the rate at the largest banks, suggesting that borrowers outside the prime credit ecosystem are absorbing the brunt of higher rates and depleted savings.
Explore Further
Is this happening to you?
Have you missed a payment or fallen behind on any bill in the past year?
How has Falling Behind changed over time?
Most affected counties
Counties with the highest delinquency scores in the County Distress Index.
Explore all 3,144 counties →| Period | Value | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | 4.81% | +1.2 pts |
| Q3 2025 | 4.49% | +1.0 pts |
| Q2 2025 | 4.41% | +1.2 pts |
| Q1 2025 | 4.35% | +1.1 pts |
| Q4 2024 | 3.58% | +0.5 pts |
| Q3 2024 | 3.54% | +0.5 pts |
| Q2 2024 | 3.2% | +0.6 pts |
| Q1 2024 | 3.25% | +0.6 pts |
| Q4 2023 | 3.13% | +0.6 pts |
| Q3 2023 | 2.99% | +0.3 pts |
| Q2 2023 | 2.61% | −0.1 pts |
| Q1 2023 | 2.61% | −0.1 pts |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current U.S. loan delinquency rate?
The total delinquency rate across all consumer loan balances was 4.8% in Q4 2025, according to the New York Fed. This includes mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans — the full surface of household debt.
Which types of loans have the highest delinquency?
FHA mortgages show the highest delinquency at recent peaks, followed by small bank credit cards and auto loans at serious-delinquency levels (90+ days past due). Conventional mortgage delinquency remains comparatively low because that segment is dominated by higher-credit-quality borrowers.
Is delinquency rising because of unemployment?
No. What is distinct about the current deterioration is that it is happening during a period of relatively low unemployment. In previous cycles, delinquency rose sharply during recessions when job losses cascaded through household finances. The current rise is happening in a labor market that has not yet materially weakened.
How does current delinquency compare to the 2008 crisis?
The current 4.8% total delinquency rate (Q4 2025) is well below the crisis peak levels of 2008–2010. However, the rate has been climbing steadily for three years from a pandemic-era floor, and the trajectory is what historians of the 2008 cycle find most worth attending to.
Where does the total delinquency data come from?
The New York Fed publishes total delinquency data quarterly in its Household Debt and Credit Report, based on a nationally representative sample from Equifax consumer credit reports covering approximately 5% of all U.S. consumers with credit files.
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