Federal Reserve Bank Data on Delinquency Rates
Recent statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reveal a mixed picture regarding consumer debt. While the overall rates of delinquency have shown improvement, there’s been a slight uptick in delinquencies related to auto loans and home loans. Additionally, credit card delinquency rates remain persistently high.
The findings indicate that total delinquency rates in the second quarter of 2026 were at 4.7% of outstanding debt. Joel Scully, an economic policy advisor at the New York Fed, mentioned that “delinquency rates for most products have remained flat for the past two years.” He added, “However, new delinquencies on auto loans and credit cards are still at elevated levels, so we’ll keep a close eye on these trends.”
Delinquencies on credit card debt that are 30 days or more overdue have stabilized around 9% since they hit that point in 2024. In contrast, auto loans are at about 8%, and home loans are around 4%.
Inflation Trends
Despite signs of inflation slowing down in July, it continues to rise, largely influenced by Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Notably, debts that are in serious arrears—defined as 90 days or more past due—have also been relatively stable over the past year, though they have seen a slight increase. The credit card delinquency rate edged up from 6.93% last year to 6.97% when comparing the second quarters of 2025 and 2026. Similarly, serious delinquency for auto loans increased from 2.93% to 3%, while mortgage loans rose from 1.29% to 1.52% during the same period.
Student Loans and Economic Distortions
Unlike other types of debt, student loans present a complicated scenario. The resumption of reporting on defaulted student loans from the end of a pandemic-related moratorium has introduced some irregularities in the data.
Excluding foreclosed debt, new credit card delinquencies have frequently hovered near 3% since 2024, currently sitting at 2.95%. However, in the latest quarter, 90-day overdue credit card debt represented 6.97% of total balances.
According to the New York Fed’s analysis, there’s been a notable shift in credit card balances from being 90 days or more delinquent. This category rose from 7.6% in the third quarter of 2022 to 12.8% in the first quarter of 2026.
Economists’ Insights
Economists at the New York Fed explained that the rise in delinquency rates stems from a growing pool of older, amortizing receivables. They clarified that this trend does not necessarily indicate a worsening in overall delinquency rates.
