It would seem that deep in the heart of Texas are a lot of folks who are deep in a financial hole. According to a new data study from WalletHub, Laredo, Texas, is the city with the greatest debt delinquency problem.
“Around 14.9% of loans and lines of credit in the city were delinquent in Q4 2023, the second-highest percentage in the country,” said the WalletHub report. “However, just looking at the number of accounts that are delinquent doesn’t give the full picture. The amount of debt that’s delinquent matters, too. When all the dollar amounts are added together, Laredo residents are actually delinquent on 19.9% of their overall debt. That is the highest percentage in the country and why Laredo ranks first in this study.”
Detroit ranked at the nation’s second-most delinquent city, with residents being delinquent on 14.8% of all their loans and lines of credit. In terms of dollar amounts, Detroit’s residents were found to be 16.5% of their entire debt. San Bernardino, California, ranked third with around 15% of loans and lines of credit in the city delinquent – the city’s residents are delinquent on 13% of their entire debt when it comes to dollar amount.
Rounding out the top 10 cities for debt delinquency were Newark, New Jersey; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Philadelphia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Bakersfield, California; Greensboro, North Carolina; and Stockton, California. Among the 100 cities analyzed by WalletHub, Seattle was determined to be the city with the lowest level of debt delinquency.
“Being delinquent on debt can significantly damage a person’s credit score and make it more difficult to get a credit card, rent apartments, or buy cars and homes in the future,” said Cassandra Happe, an analyst with WalletHub. “People who miss a loan payment should try to get current as quickly as possible. The good news is that for many types of debt, borrowers have at least 30 days before delinquency gets reported to the credit bureaus. That allows people a little leeway to get the funds together and avoid credit score damage, though the issuer will still likely charge a late fee.”
Photo by Not home / Wikimedia Commons
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