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Credit‑counseling agencies report a notable increase in clients with higher incomes seeking help, indicating that financial stress is spreading up the income distribution.
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Separate data over the past year show delinquencies for households earning at least about $150,000 have risen faster (roughly 20% over two years) than for middle‑ and lower‑income borrowers, especially on credit cards and auto loans.
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Aggregate consumer delinquencies have climbed to their highest share of household debt in nearly a decade (around 4.8%), with particular pressure in credit cards, autos, and restarted student loans.
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Emerging drivers include: high interest rates lifting debt service costs, real incomes that have not kept pace with prior inflation, and softening white‑collar labor markets that disproportionately affect upper‑income, debt‑financed households.
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So far, New York Fed work still finds delinquency rates lowest in the highest‑income ZIP codes, but the rate of deterioration there is now faster than in many lower‑income areas, which is what makes this phase notable versus earlier in the cycle.
The exchange for the debt economy
Rising delinquencies are now showing up among higher‑income borrowers, not just lower‑income households.
