Total Delinquency Rate Was 4.7% in Q2 2026: U.S. Default Rates by Loan Type
The total delinquency rate on household debt was 4.7% in Q2 2026, up from 4.4% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. FHA mortgage delinquency was 11.79% in the Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey, little changed from 11.88% in Q1 2026. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Mortgage Bankers Association data, updated quarterly. Federal Reserve Board data retrieved via FRED.
What Are the Current U.S. Default Rates?
The total delinquency rate — the share of debt balances on credit reports at least 30 days past due — was 4.7% in Q2 2026, up from 4.4% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. It counts dollars owed, not people. Each loan type below comes from its own source with its own definition of late, so the rates sit side by side but aren't like-for-like.
In the Mortgage Bankers Association's survey, 11.79% of FHA-insured loans were at least one payment behind in Q2 2026, little changed from 11.88% in Q1 2026. The share of auto-loan balances 90 or more days late was 5.49%, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025, the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003. For student loans, 10.6% of balances were 90 or more days late, up from 10.16% in Q2 2025. Credit card delinquency at commercial banks was 2.9%, the same as in Q1 2026. That's the lowest since Q2 2023. The bank-booked single-family mortgage rate was 1.9%, the same as in Q1 2026.
Three of these series — auto-loan, credit card and bank-booked mortgage delinquency — feed the Delinquency domain of the American Distress Index, which currently reads 47.0 (Typical). The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.
Default Rates at a Glance
The American Distress Index currently reads 47.0 (Typical). The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005. Its Delinquency domain (20.0% of the composite) draws on mortgage, credit card, consumer loan, and auto loan delinquency rates. The FHA, student-loan and all-debt figures on this page are context, not index inputs. The gaps between FHA and bank-booked mortgage rates, and between auto and credit card rates, show why definitions and covered populations matter when comparing aggregate rates. These series don't show which households overlap or a fixed sequence from savings depletion to default.
How Do Default Rates Compare Across Loan Types?
Six consumer debt series are listed by their current reported rate, each beside its reading a year earlier and where it ranks in its own comparable history. The rows are not interchangeable: some measure balances 30 or 90 days late, FHA counts loans at least one payment behind, and the commercial-bank series cover their own portfolios. Co-movement can motivate further research, but it can't identify the same borrowers, a household payment order, or one common cause.
| Loan Type | Current Rate | A Year Earlier | Change From a Year Earlier | Rank in Its Own Series | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FHA Mortgage (loans 1+ payment behind) | 11.79% | 10.57% | Up 1.22 percentage points | — | MBA NDS |
| Student Loan Balances (90+ days) | 10.6% | 10.16% | Up 0.44 percentage points | Highest of 5 quarters since 2025 | NY Fed |
| Auto Loan Balances (90+ days) | 5.49% | 4.99% | Up 0.5 percentage points | Second highest of 94 quarters since 2003 | NY Fed |
| All Household Debt (30+ days) | 4.7% | 4.4% | Up 0.3 percentage points | Second highest of 5 quarters since 2025 | NY Fed |
| Credit Card (all commercial banks) | 2.9% | 3% | Down 0.1 percentage points | 22nd highest of 66 quarters since 2010 | Federal Reserve Board |
| Bank-Booked Mortgage | 1.9% | 1.8% | Up 0.1 percentage points | 52nd highest of 66 quarters since 2010 | Federal Reserve Board |
Each row links to a full indicator page with quarterly data, charts, and definitions. FHA shows no rank because the stored MBA series has gaps before 2023.
How Have Default Rates Changed Since 2005?
The chart below plots four series on one axis. Read the lines within their breaks: the Federal Reserve Board's credit card and mortgage series changed accounting rules in 2010, when banks brought securitized loans back onto their books, and the New York Fed's all-debt series crosses student-loan reporting changes in 2012, 2020 and 2025.
Student-loan delinquency is left out of this overlay because payment, on-ramp, and credit-reporting changes create a comparability break in the series. See the student-loan section below for its reporting chronology.
Delinquency Rates: Credit Card, Mortgage, Auto Loan, Total (2005–Present)
Sources: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED (DRCCLACBS, DRSFRMACBS); Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report.
How Does FHA Delinquency Compare With the Fed Bank-Booked Series?
FHA-insured mortgages and the Fed's bank-booked single-family mortgage series cover different mortgage populations and measure different things. MBA's FHA rate counts loans at least one payment behind; the Fed's rate is the share of loan dollars on commercial banks' books 30 or more days past due or in nonaccrual, and it includes FHA and VA loans, so the two are not like-for-like. In Q2 2026, the latest quarter both report, FHA was 11.79% and the bank-booked rate 1.86%.
FHA vs. Bank-Booked Mortgage Delinquency
Sources: Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey (FHA); Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System data retrieved via FRED, DRSFRMACBS (bank-booked single-family mortgages).
Full analysis: FHA mortgage delinquency rate indicator page (The FHA Signal) · Historical FHA Signal thesis
How Does the Latest Auto-Loan Reading Compare With Its History?
The share of auto-loan balances at least 90 days delinquent was 5.49% in Q2 2026, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That is the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003. It has been higher than a year earlier for 12 straight quarters. The share is a stock: it can rise because old delinquent debt stays on credit reports, not only because more people are newly missing payments. Because an auto loan is secured by the vehicle, delinquency can put transportation at risk, but this series doesn't record a household's payment priorities.
The personal saving rate, a separate aggregate from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, was 4.1% in August 2026, down from 4.6% in July 2026. That flow measure doesn't reveal whether the same households have auto-loan delinquencies or whether saving changed before a missed payment.
Full data: Auto loan delinquency time series · "The Two-Economy Problem"
How Did Student-Loan Reporting Change After Pandemic Protections?
Federal student-loan payments resumed in October 2023. A separate 12-month Department of Education "on-ramp" limited adverse credit reporting for missed payments through September 30, 2024, and the New York Fed says late federal payments weren't reported on credit reports again until early 2025. The 0.53% Q4 2024 reading sits at that reporting transition; it isn't an ordinary measure of borrower health.
In Q2 2026, 10.6% of student-loan balances were 90 or more days delinquent, up from 10.16% in Q2 2025, the highest of the 5 quarters in the comparable series, which starts in 2025. In 2019, the share averaged about 10.9%; reporting rules were different then, so the two figures are levels, not a like-for-like trend. Neither shows how many borrowers first missed a payment in a particular quarter. The student-loan statistics page shows the full series and definitions.
Full data: Student loan serious delinquency indicator page · Consumer Debt Statistics
Different Series, Different Populations
Total delinquency is 4.7%, credit card delinquency at commercial banks is 2.9%, and FHA delinquency was 11.79% in Q2 2026 in MBA's survey. The auto-loan reading is 5.49%. The matched outside-top-100 minus top-100 credit-card delinquency spread was 3.8 percentage points in Q2 2026. It subtracts DRCCLT100S from DRCCLOBS for the same quarter in the same Federal Reserve Board release. Each comparison keeps its own source population and denominator.
Differences across those aggregates can support narrower questions, but they don't prove that the same borrowers appear in each series, that one group is uniformly worsening, or that one measure leads another. Hardship withdrawals are another distinct aggregate series and should be read on their own population and methodology.
See the matched bank-population comparison →Which Mortgage Servicers Have the Most Complaints?
Consumer complaints are a separate record from delinquency rates. In the CFPB's complaint database, the five mortgage companies with the most complaints since 2012 are Wells Fargo (49,618), Bank of America (48,093), Ocwen / Onity Group (35,598), Mr. Cooper (31,928), and JPMorgan Chase (25,617), counting complaints received through Sep 28, 2026.
See the full list of servicers for complaint records and loss mitigation contact information.
Data Sources and Methodology
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Credit card and single-family mortgage delinquency rates for insured U.S.-chartered commercial banks, from quarterly Call Reports, seasonally adjusted, retrieved via FRED. Series DRCCLACBS (credit card) and DRSFRMACBS (single-family residential mortgage); both count balances 30+ days past due plus nonaccrual. The Board says data come out about sixty days after the quarter ends.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report
Auto loan delinquency, student loan delinquency, and total delinquency (30+ days) from the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample of Equifax credit reports. Published quarterly. The New York Fed doesn't say these series are seasonally adjusted, so changes here compare the same quarter a year earlier.
Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey
FHA mortgage delinquency from the Mortgage Bankers Association's voluntary quarterly survey of mortgage servicers, seasonally adjusted at the national level. It counts FHA loans at least one payment behind, excluding loans already in foreclosure, and it doesn't cover every FHA loan in the U.S.
American Distress Index
The index's Delinquency domain incorporates mortgage, credit card, consumer loan, and auto loan delinquency. Each input is ranked against its own full quarterly history. Current score: 47.0. For a printable summary, see the one-page index summary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which loan type has the highest default rate in 2026?
The largest figure on this page is the FHA mortgage delinquency rate, 11.79% in Q2 2026. The rates are not like-for-like, though. The Mortgage Bankers Association's FHA rate counts loans at least one payment behind; the New York Fed's student and auto figures count balances 90 or more days late; and the Federal Reserve Board's bank series count balances 30 or more days late or in nonaccrual. None of them is a share of borrowers.
What is the current U.S. default rate across all loan types?
The total delinquency rate across household debt on credit reports was 4.7% (30 or more days past due) in Q2 2026, up from 4.4% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. It is the share of outstanding balances in some stage of delinquency, not the share of people or households who are behind.
What does the latest auto-loan delinquency reading show?
In Q2 2026, 5.49% of auto-loan balances were 90 or more days delinquent, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That is the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003. This is a share of outstanding auto-loan balances, not borrowers or accounts.
How do current default rates compare to the 2008 financial crisis?
Most of these series can't be compared straight back to 2008. The Federal Reserve Board's bank series changed accounting rules in 2010, when securitized loans came back onto bank books, so their comparisons start in 2010. The New York Fed's student-loan and all-debt series cross several student-loan reporting changes, so their comparisons start in 2025. The New York Fed's auto-loan series has no declared break: at 5.49% in Q2 2026, it is the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003.
What is the difference between delinquency rate and default rate?
Delinquency means a borrower has missed one or more payments (typically measured at 30+ or 90+ days past due). Default has no single regulatory definition — for federal student loans it generally means 270+ days delinquent; for mortgages, lenders often treat 90+ days as serious delinquency. Charge-off is when the lender writes the debt off its books; bank regulators' policy for credit cards is generally 180 days past due. In consumer lending data, 'default rate' and 'delinquency rate' are often used interchangeably, though delinquency is the more precise statistical term.