Many homeowners are struggling to stay current on their mortgage loan payments, causing the number of mortgage delinquencies to increase across the nation, according to a new report from personal finance website WalletHub.
The increase is driven by high mortgage rates and housing costs, along with a rising cost of living that have left many homeowners struggling financially. Falling behind on a mortgage is a serious matter, potentially resulting in late fees, credit score harm, and even foreclosure.
WalletHub analyzed proprietary user data from Q1 to Q2 of 2025 to determine the cities with the highest rates of mortgage delinquency, as well as those where borrowers are staying current.
“The rate of mortgage delinquency varies significantly from city to city, ranging from around 3% to nearly 24%. The bad news is that while people in some cities are having much more difficulty paying their mortgages than others, the problem as a whole is also getting worse this year. In fact, the mortgage delinquency rate actually increased in all but 13 of the 100 cities in our study between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said.
Laredo, Texas, Tops the List for Delinquencies
The city with the most people delinquent on their mortgage is Laredo, Texas, with roughly 24% of mortgages in delinquent status as of Q2 2025. WalletHub said that is significantly higher than the delinquency rate in other major cities, with no other city in its study topping 19%.
On top of that, WalletHub said that Laredo residents’ delinquency rate is going up. Despite already being the highest in the nation, Laredo experienced a nearly 6% increase between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025. WalletHub said nearly all major cities experienced increases during the same time period.
WalletHub said that in addition to struggles of high home prices and high interest rates, Laredo has a high number of residents in financial distress. Laredo also is one of the weakest cities when it comes to residents’ money management skills, WalletHub said.
Ranking second is Detroit, Michigan with almost 19% of mortgages delinquent as of Q2 2025. That’s a high number, but it’s around 5% below the delinquency rate in Laredo.
WalletHub said that in general, Detroit has a serious delinquency problem even outside of mortgages. It ranks third among the cities where people are the most delinquent on all types of debt combined. As was the case in most major cities, WalletHub said Detroit’s mortgage delinquency rate rose between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, rising by 11%.
Newark, New Jersey somes in as the third-highest mortgage delinquency rate. Its residents are delinquent on close to 17% of their mortgages, just slightly behind second-place Detroit. WalletHub said one contributing factor to Newark’s high delinquency rate is that it ranks fourth among the cities in which people are most delinquent on debt in general.
Newark also had an increase in the delinquency rate between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025, with an increase of more than 9%.
WalletHub said that to determine the cities where most people are delinquent on mortgage loans, it analyzed its proprietary user data on consumer mortgage delinquency rates between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025.
