Credit Card Delinquency Rate
The credit-card delinquency rate is the share of credit-card loan balances at least 30 days past due across all US commercial banks, reported quarterly by the Federal Reserve. It is a direct, hard-data read on consumer financial stress — actual missed payments, not survey sentiment.
Latest reading
As of January 2026, Card Delinquencies (Delinquency rate) stands at 2.92% — down from 2.94% the prior reading. The long-run range is roughly 2–5%; the 2009 financial-crisis peak was near 6.8%. The combination that matters most is rising delinquencies while unemployment is still low — it means households are cracking before the labor market does, the classic early-warning sequence. Watch the trend off cycle lows rather than the absolute level. Series history runs from 1991 to present.
Delinquency rate
Full history
Methodology & data
Card Delinquencies is sourced from Fed via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (Federal Reserve via FRED (DRCCLACBS), quarterly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a quarterly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-06-20. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Credit Card Delinquency Rate?
The credit-card delinquency rate is the share of credit-card loan balances at least 30 days past due across all US commercial banks, reported quarterly by the Federal Reserve. It is a direct, hard-data read on consumer financial stress — actual missed payments, not survey sentiment.
How do you read Card Delinquencies?
The long-run range is roughly 2–5%; the 2009 financial-crisis peak was near 6.8%. The combination that matters most is rising delinquencies while unemployment is still low — it means households are cracking before the labor market does, the classic early-warning sequence. Watch the trend off cycle lows rather than the absolute level.
Where does the Card Delinquencies data come from?
Federal Reserve via FRED (DRCCLACBS), quarterly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/credit-card-delinquency.csv.
How often is Card Delinquencies updated?
Card Delinquencies is a quarterly series from Fed, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.