Americans’ debt delinquencies rose to highest level since 2010, Fed survey shows

Americans’ debt delinquency in 2025 reached its highest level since 2010, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest Survey of Consumer Finances, as nearly one in five families reported being behind on loan payments. The data point to greater pressure on household budgets, though the survey alone does not show that the U.S. is entering a recession.

The survey, which covers the three years through 2025 and is released every three years, found that families were more likely to be behind on financial obligations than in any survey since 2010, CNBC reported. That earlier survey came as the country was emerging from the Great Recession, which lasted from December 2007 through June 2009.

What does the Fed survey say about Americans’ debt delinquency in 2025?

Nearly 20% of families were behind on loan payments at the end of 2025, up from about 12% in the prior survey, according to CNBC’s account of the Fed findings. That is an increase of roughly 8 percentage points. Relative to the earlier level, it is about a 67% rise.

The more serious late-payment measure also worsened. More than 8% of families were at least two months behind on payments, compared with 5% in 2022. These figures describe the share of families reporting payment trouble, rather than the total dollar value of missed payments.

Another measure tracked the burden of debt payments relative to income. The share of families with payment-to-income ratios above 40% rose to 8.6% from 6.5% in 2022, the highest level since 2013, CNBC reported. A payment-to-income ratio compares required debt payments with a household’s income; a ratio above 40% means those payments exceed two-fifths of income.

What the figures do and do not show

The comparison with 2010 puts the payment data in historical context, but it does not establish that today’s economy matches the financial crisis period or that a downturn is imminent. The Survey of Consumer Finances is a broad, periodic look at household finances through 2025, not a real-time reading of current delinquencies.

The results also show uneven changes in wealth. Inflation-adjusted average net worth rose 7% to $1.24 million, while median net worth, the midpoint across families, increased 2% to $215,900, according to CNBC. The difference between those growth rates indicates that gains were stronger higher in the wealth distribution.

Families in the bottom quarter of the income distribution saw median net worth decline 6% and average net worth fall 4%, CNBC reported. Meanwhile, the highest income group recorded a 31% increase in median net worth. The Fed’s findings therefore pair a broad rise in repayment stress with sharply different balance-sheet outcomes across households.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.