Mortgage Delinquencies for Lower Income Households Up 600 Percent
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Center for Microeconomic Data released its Household Debt and Credit report for the fourth quarter of 2025. The report found that mortgage delinquencies among lower income households have risen sharply. The 90 plus day delinquency rate for borrowers in the lowest income areas went from 0.5 percent in 2021 to nearly 3 percent by the end of 2025. That is a 600 percent increase in four years.
A 90 day mortgage delinquency means a homeowner has gone three or more months without making a payment. At that point, foreclosure proceedings can begin. Missed payments accumulate interest and fees, credit scores drop, and the path back to current status gets harder with each passing month. For most families, a 90 day delinquency is the beginning of losing their home.
While borrowers in lower income areas are falling behind at this rate, households in higher income areas are maintaining what the New York Fed describes as "historically lower delinquency rates." The gap between these two groups has been widening since 2023. The Washington Post reported on this data under the headline "A new mortgage crisis is quietly hitting those who can least afford it."
Why Kansas Is Particularly Exposed
Kansas has a homeownership rate above the national average. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 67 percent of Kansas households own their homes, compared to about 65 percent nationally. That higher rate of ownership means mortgage distress affects a larger share of the population here than in most states. When delinquency rates rise nationally, Kansas feels it more.
The job market is a significant factor. The New York Fed's analysis found that weakening regional labor markets are a major contributor to rising delinquencies. Two thirds of U.S. counties have seen their local unemployment rates rise, and 5 percent of the population lives in counties where unemployment has gone up by more than 1.6 percentage points. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings nationally have dropped to 6.5 million, a decrease of nearly one million over the past year. In western and central Kansas, where the labor market was already limited before these trends, fewer openings means people who lose a job have fewer places to turn.
For a family in Salina, Hutchinson, or Dodge City, falling behind on the mortgage comes from everything else getting more expensive at the same time. Groceries cost more. Utilities cost more. Insurance premiums have gone up. Childcare has gone up. The mortgage payment is typically the last bill a household stops paying, because losing a home is the worst outcome. But when every other cost rises and wages do not keep pace, the monthly budget runs out before the mortgage gets paid.