Over the past year, student loan payments have come due with a vengeance (or at least with interest), as students have no longer been able to benefit from the multi-year payment moratorium started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have struggled to keep up, and being delinquent on student loans has damaged their credit scores and led to other negative consequences like the garnishment of their wages. To determine where student loan delinquency is increasing the most, and thus where people have the greatest risk of credit score damage and other financial difficulties, WalletHub analyzed proprietary user data from Q1 2024 to Q2 2024.

“Being delinquent on student loans has the potential to ruin your finances and your credit score, but if you’ve only recently become delinquent you do have time to get back on track. Federal student loans don’t get reported to the credit bureaus as delinquent until you’re 90 days behind on payments, though private loans may report delinquency after as few as 30 days. If you’re having trouble paying, it’s important to contact your lender as soon as possible to try to work out a solution.” JOHN KIERNAN, WALLETHUB EDITOR