U.S. states see mortgage delinquencies rise in early 2026

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US mortgage delinquencies rise 2026

Highlights

Vermont leads U.S. states with a 12.32% quarter-on-quarter rise in delinquent mortgage loans from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026, followed by Delaware at 6.92% and Louisiana at 4.40%.
Louisiana posts the highest Q1 2026 mortgage delinquency rate among top three states at 14.33%, with Delaware at 8.35% and Vermont at 5.81%.
Wyoming records a 14.41% decline in delinquent mortgages while Nebraska and Mississippi see decreases of 7.88% and 4.27%, reflecting regional divergence in housing stress.

State ranking tracks first-quarter increases

As reported by WalletHub, the ranking measures where delinquent mortgages increase the most between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, using each state's share of the average number of delinquent loans in the first quarter of 2026 and the quarter-on-quarter change in overdue mortgages. The study uses data collected in April from WalletHub's own database.

A mortgage is considered delinquent when a payment is at least 30 days late and is reported to credit bureaus. The data comes as many buyers face average 30-year mortgage rates above 6%, while existing homeowners also contend with higher property taxes, insurance premiums and repair costs.

Vermont ranks first with a 12.32% increase in delinquent mortgage loans from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026, followed by Delaware at 6.92% and Louisiana at 4.40%. Louisiana also records the highest mortgage delinquency rate among the top three, at 14.33% in the first quarter of 2026, while Delaware stands at 8.35% and Vermont at 5.81%.

Florida and Montana complete the top five, with increases of 3.87% and 3.71%, respectively. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Colorado, Texas and Idaho round out the top 10 states with the largest quarter-to-quarter increases.

Housing costs weigh on regional affordability

Further down the ranking, North Carolina posts a 2.70% increase in delinquent mortgages, followed by Rhode Island at 2.55%, California at 2.53%, Illinois at 2.37%, Oregon at 2.09%, Tennessee at 2.08%, Nevada at 2.07%, Alabama at 2.04%, Alaska at 1.94% and South Carolina at 1.63%. The figures indicate pressure is spread across both high-cost and lower-cost housing markets.

Not every state records deterioration over the period. Wyoming is the only state to post a double-digit decline in delinquent mortgages, down 14.41%, while Nebraska and Mississippi also see decreases of 7.88% and 4.27%, respectively.

The state-by-state variation suggests mortgage stress is being shaped by more than borrowing costs alone, including insurance, tax and labor market conditions. For lenders, insurers and housing-market participants, the first-quarter data points to uneven but broad-based strain in U.S. household housing payments.

Our earlier article on metro-area payroll trends highlighted how most U.S. labor markets saw little change year over year, but a few areas posted outsized declines. It singled out Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro as an outlier with one of the largest job losses, underscoring how uneven regional conditions can be and how local labor weakness can amplify household financial stress.

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