Consumer Debt Statistics by State 2026: Credit Card Delinquency, Auto Loans & Total Debt
National averages conceal as much as they reveal. State-level data from the NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel shows credit card distress concentrated in the Sun Belt and South — a geographic pattern that mirrors the pre-2008 foreclosure wave. All figures Q4 2025.
Last updated: 2026-03-09
How Much Consumer Debt Does the Average American Have?
At the national level, total household debt per capita stands at $63k as of Q4 2025, with the average credit card delinquency rate at 12.4%. But these averages conceal enormous geographic variation. 36 out of 51 states and DC now exceed 10% credit card delinquency — the highest count since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
The worst-performing state, Nevada, carries a credit card delinquency rate of 16.3% — more than double the rate in the lowest-delinquency states. The geographic concentration of financial distress in the Sun Belt and Deep South mirrors the pre-GFC mortgage distress pattern the American Distress Index was built to track.
At a Glance
The American Distress Index currently reads 59.0 (Elevated). The ADI tracks geographic spread as a systemic risk signal. When distress is concentrated in a handful of states, it can be explained by local conditions. When two-thirds of U.S. states cross the 10% credit card delinquency threshold simultaneously, the explanation is structural — and the parallel to pre-GFC mortgage distress patterns becomes harder to dismiss.
The Geographic Spread of Credit Card Distress
By Q4 2025, 36 out of 51 states and DC had credit card delinquency rates at or above 10% — the highest count since 2010, when 42 states exceeded the threshold in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In 2019, only 3 states were above this line.
The velocity of the expansion is the more important number. From 3 states in 2019 to 13 in 2023 to 36 in 2025, the spread has accelerated in a pattern that echoes — at a compressed timeline — the geographic diffusion of mortgage distress from 2005 to 2008. The American Distress Index tracks this as The Spread, one of its most watched systemic indicators.
States with Credit Card Delinquency Above 10%
Source: NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Annual Q4 data, 2003-2025.
Full data and trend: The Spread indicator page
Credit Card Delinquency by State (Top 15)
The ranking skews heavily toward the Sun Belt and Deep South — regions where rapid population growth, rising housing costs, and wages that lag coastal metros have compressed household budgets. The top three — Nevada at 16.3%, Florida at 14.9%, and Louisiana at 14.2% — share a common profile: fast-growing populations absorbing cost increases with thinner financial buffers than their northeastern or western counterparts.
Credit Card Delinquency Rate by State — Top 15 (Q4 2025)
Source: NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Delinquency = 90+ days past due as share of balances.
National trend over time: The Late Fee — Credit Card Delinquency Rate indicator page
Fastest Deterioration Since 2019
The level tells you where distress is worst today. The change tells you where it is getting worse fastest. Louisiana saw the largest deterioration since the pre-pandemic baseline — a 5.6 percentage point increase — followed by Georgia (+5.6pp) and West Virginia (+5.6pp).
The national average rose from 8.1% to 12.4% over the same period — an increase of +4.2 percentage points. Several states experienced nearly double the national increase, confirming that the post-pandemic recovery in household balance sheets has been profoundly uneven. Households in the hardest-hit states may want to review their rights under federal debt collection laws as delinquency pressures mount.
Change in CC Delinquency Rate, 2019 to 2025 (Top 15, percentage points)
Source: NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Q4 2019 vs Q4 2025.
Geographic spread over time: The Spread — States Crossing 10% Credit Card Delinquency indicator page
All States: Credit Card Delinquency Rates
Credit card delinquency rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranked highest to lowest. States in red exceed the 10% threshold — the level the ADI uses to classify a state as being in credit distress.
| Rank | State | Q4 2025 | Q4 2024 | Q4 2019 | Change (2019-2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | 16.3% | 14.5% | 11.5% | +4.8pp |
| 2 | Florida | 14.9% | 13.5% | 10.5% | +4.4pp |
| 3 | Louisiana | 14.2% | 12.9% | 8.6% | +5.6pp |
| 4 | Texas | 14.2% | 13.0% | 9.2% | +5.0pp |
| 5 | Georgia | 13.9% | 12.5% | 8.3% | +5.6pp |
| 6 | Arkansas | 13.8% | 12.5% | 9.7% | +4.1pp |
| 7 | West Virginia | 13.7% | 12.4% | 8.1% | +5.6pp |
| 8 | Arizona | 13.7% | 12.1% | 10.4% | +3.3pp |
| 9 | Mississippi | 13.4% | 12.5% | 9.5% | +3.9pp |
| 10 | South Carolina | 13.4% | 12.1% | 8.2% | +5.2pp |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 13.3% | 12.2% | 8.9% | +4.4pp |
| 12 | California | 13.2% | 12.0% | 8.7% | +4.5pp |
| 13 | New York | 12.9% | 12.0% | 9.0% | +3.9pp |
| 14 | North Carolina | 12.5% | 11.3% | 8.2% | +4.3pp |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 12.3% | 11.4% | 8.0% | +4.4pp |
| 16 | Alabama | 12.2% | 11.2% | 8.4% | +3.9pp |
| 17 | Delaware | 12.2% | 11.3% | 8.6% | +3.7pp |
| 18 | New Mexico | 11.9% | 10.6% | 9.0% | +2.9pp |
| 19 | Kentucky | 11.8% | 10.9% | 7.8% | +4.0pp |
| 20 | Indiana | 11.7% | 10.7% | 7.0% | +4.7pp |
| 21 | Maryland | 11.7% | 10.4% | 7.4% | +4.2pp |
| 22 | Illinois | 11.6% | 10.4% | 6.6% | +5.0pp |
| 23 | Tennessee | 11.6% | 10.5% | 7.8% | +3.8pp |
| 24 | New Jersey | 11.4% | 10.4% | 7.5% | +3.9pp |
| 25 | Rhode Island | 11.4% | 10.4% | 8.1% | +3.3pp |
| 26 | Missouri | 11.3% | 10.7% | 7.7% | +3.7pp |
| 27 | Michigan | 11.3% | 10.5% | 6.9% | +4.4pp |
| 28 | District of Columbia | 11.2% | 10.8% | 6.5% | +4.6pp |
| 29 | Ohio | 11.1% | 10.4% | 7.4% | +3.7pp |
| 30 | Colorado | 11.1% | 9.8% | 6.5% | +4.6pp |
| 31 | Kansas | 10.7% | 9.9% | 6.4% | +4.3pp |
| 32 | Wyoming | 10.5% | 9.1% | 7.5% | +3.0pp |
| 33 | Connecticut | 10.5% | 9.9% | 7.1% | +3.5pp |
| 34 | Massachusetts | 10.3% | 9.6% | 7.2% | +3.1pp |
| 35 | Iowa | 10.3% | 9.6% | 7.0% | +3.3pp |
| 36 | Hawaii | 10.2% | 9.4% | 7.2% | +3.0pp |
| 37 | Virginia | 9.8% | 8.9% | 6.6% | +3.3pp |
| 38 | New Hampshire | 9.8% | 8.9% | 6.6% | +3.2pp |
| 39 | Maine | 9.8% | 8.8% | 6.2% | +3.6pp |
| 40 | Alaska | 9.8% | 9.2% | 6.6% | +3.2pp |
| 41 | Montana | 9.8% | 8.7% | 7.0% | +2.7pp |
| 42 | Nebraska | 9.8% | 9.2% | 6.7% | +3.1pp |
| 43 | Idaho | 9.5% | 8.8% | 6.8% | +2.7pp |
| 44 | Oregon | 9.5% | 8.5% | 6.3% | +3.2pp |
| 45 | Utah | 9.4% | 7.9% | 5.8% | +3.6pp |
| 46 | Washington | 9.3% | 8.3% | 5.8% | +3.5pp |
| 47 | South Dakota | 9.1% | 8.8% | 6.3% | +2.8pp |
| 48 | North Dakota | 9.0% | 8.1% | 5.6% | +3.4pp |
| 49 | Vermont | 9.0% | 8.1% | 5.8% | +3.2pp |
| 50 | Minnesota | 8.6% | 7.9% | 6.1% | +2.5pp |
| 51 | Wisconsin | 8.0% | 7.6% | 5.5% | +2.6pp |
| — | National Average | 12.4% | 11.2% | 8.1% | +4.2pp |
Auto Loan Delinquency by State (Top 15)
Auto loan delinquency follows the same geographic fault lines, with the Sun Belt and Southern states dominating the worst-performing list. The correlation matters: auto loans sit higher in the default hierarchy than credit cards. Borrowers sacrifice credit card payments before they risk losing a vehicle. When a state shows elevated delinquency in both categories simultaneously, it signals that households have already burned through the buffer that typically separates credit card trouble from broader financial collapse — what the ADI calls the two-economy problem. Major nonbank servicers like Rocket Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage, and Caliber Home Loans have concentrated portfolios in high-delinquency Sun Belt states — see servicer profiles for state-level complaint breakdowns.
| Rank | State | Auto Delinq Q4 2025 | CC Delinq Q4 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 13.6% | 11.2% |
| 2 | Mississippi | 7.7% | 13.4% |
| 3 | Georgia | 7.0% | 13.9% |
| 4 | Alabama | 6.5% | 12.2% |
| 5 | Louisiana | 6.5% | 14.2% |
| 6 | Indiana | 6.3% | 11.7% |
| 7 | Michigan | 6.3% | 11.3% |
| 8 | South Carolina | 6.2% | 13.4% |
| 9 | Nevada | 6.2% | 16.3% |
| 10 | Delaware | 6.1% | 12.2% |
| 11 | New Mexico | 6.1% | 11.9% |
| 12 | North Carolina | 6.1% | 12.5% |
| 13 | Maryland | 6.0% | 11.7% |
| 14 | Texas | 5.8% | 14.2% |
| 15 | Tennessee | 5.7% | 11.6% |
National auto loan trend: The Repo Line — Auto Loan Serious Delinquency Rate indicator page
Total Household Debt Per Capita by State (Top 15)
Per-capita debt alone is a weak distress signal. States with expensive housing markets — California, DC, Hawaii — carry high mortgage balances but often have lower delinquency rates, because those borrowers qualified under stringent underwriting. The concerning combination is high leverage and high delinquency: states like Florida and Texas, where households carry substantial debt loads and are increasingly unable to service them. Explore individual state financial distress profiles for the full picture, including foreclosure law summaries and local help resources.
| Rank | State | Total Debt/Capita | CC Delinq Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $102k | 11.2% |
| 2 | Colorado | $93k | 11.1% |
| 3 | California | $88k | 13.2% |
| 4 | Washington | $86k | 9.3% |
| 5 | Hawaii | $83k | 10.2% |
| 6 | Utah | $83k | 9.4% |
| 7 | Maryland | $81k | 11.7% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $77k | 10.3% |
| 9 | Virginia | $77k | 9.8% |
| 10 | Nevada | $71k | 16.3% |
| 11 | Arizona | $71k | 13.7% |
| 12 | Oregon | $70k | 9.5% |
| 13 | New Jersey | $70k | 11.4% |
| 14 | Alaska | $69k | 9.8% |
| 15 | Idaho | $69k | 9.5% |
Data Sources and Methodology
NY Fed Consumer Credit Panel
All state-level data on this page comes from the NY Fed's nationally representative 5% sample of Equifax credit reports. State figures represent Q4 (year-end) snapshots, published annually by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Delinquency = balances 90+ days past due as % of total balances.
Per-Capita Methodology
Per-capita figures are computed using the adult population with a credit file, not total state population. This matters: states with younger populations or more unbanked residents may undercount true debt burden. The ADI tracks geographic spread via The Spread indicator.
Citation
State Level Household Debt Statistics 2003-2025, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, February 2026 For national consumer debt trends across all categories, see the Consumer Debt Statistics 2026 roundup page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which state has the highest credit card delinquency rate?
Nevada leads with a 16.3% credit card delinquency rate as of Q4 2025, followed by Florida (14.9%) and Louisiana (14.2%). The top states share a common profile: Sun Belt or Deep South, fast-growing populations, and wages that lag coastal metros.
What is the average credit card delinquency rate in the U.S.?
The national average credit card delinquency rate is 12.4% as of Q4 2025 (balances 90+ days past due). This is up from 8.1% in Q4 2019 — an increase of +4.2 percentage points. But state-level variation is enormous, ranging from under 6% in some states to over 14% in the worst.
How does credit card debt vary by state?
Credit card distress is geographically concentrated in the Sun Belt and Deep South — states where rapid population growth, rising housing costs, and lower median wages have compressed household budgets. 36 out of 51 states now exceed the 10% delinquency threshold, compared to just 3 states in 2019.
What is the national credit card balance?
Total consumer debt per capita stands at $63k nationally as of Q4 2025. Per-capita debt alone is a weak distress signal — states with expensive housing markets carry high balances but often have lower delinquency rates. The concerning combination is high leverage and high delinquency simultaneously.
How does state-level consumer debt connect to the American Distress Index?
The ADI tracks geographic spread through The Spread indicator — currently at 36 states above the 10% credit card delinquency threshold. When distress is concentrated in a few states, it may reflect local conditions. When two-thirds of states cross the threshold simultaneously, the explanation is structural, and the parallel to pre-GFC mortgage distress patterns becomes harder to dismiss.