Fed reports rise in US families falling behind on loan payments

Almost one in five US families reported late loan payments in the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances. The Federal Reserve released the findings on October 9.

The share of families reporting late payments rose from 12.2% in 2022 to 19.6% in 2025. The measure covers delays during the year preceding the interview. The Fed's summary said families were more likely to fall behind than at any point since the 2010 survey.

Longer delays also became more common. The share reporting payments at least two months late reached 8.2%, compared with 4.9% three years earlier. Families that held debt at the time of their interview were asked about payment delays.

The share of families spending more than 40% of their income on debt payments increased from 6.5% to 8.6%. That measure captures the burden of current payments on a family's budget, rather than its total debt relative to income.

Real income moved in different directions across the two surveys. Median family income rose 7%, while mean income fell 6%. The median describes the middle of the distribution, whereas the mean is more sensitive to very large values among high-income families.

Net worth, defined as assets minus liabilities, generally increased. Adjusted for inflation, median net worth rose 2% to $215,900, while mean net worth climbed 7% to approximately $1.24 million. Growth was substantially slower than between the 2019 and 2022 surveys.

Among families in the highest income group, median net worth rose 31%. Less affluent families experienced weaker outcomes. The findings show that rising assets overall can coexist with difficulties servicing loans for part of the population. The results concern the 2025 survey and do not measure payment conditions as of the report's October 2026 release.