Californians Falling Behind on Bill Payments Amid Soaring Debt Levels

A neighborhood of single family homes in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 30, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Californians are falling behind on their bills amid the highest per capita debt levels since 2008, according to debt statistics by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in its most recent Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.

In the first quarter of 2024, household debt per capita in California peaked at $86,940 before decreasing slightly in the fourth quarter to $86,130. The average U.S. per capita debt was only $50,540 in the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, a rising number of Californians were falling behind on said debt. New York Fed numbers show that 3.25 percent of Californians fell 30 days late on debt repayment in the fourth quarter—a nine-year high. That’s the highest level since 2016’s first quarter. The U.S. average for this metric was even higher, at 4.14 percent.

Joel Kotkin, executive director at Chapman University Center for Demographics and Policy, said that while households in other states also struggle with bills, California’s debt numbers may be high due to the cost of living.

“The pressures may be greater due to high costs,” he told The Epoch Times.

Bad habits plus a mediocre economy, he said, could mean more Californians will opt to rent instead of buy, or go into further debt to buy a home.

“They won’t be buying houses as much as elsewhere, but if they do, their debts will be enormous,” Kotkin said.

A December 2024 report by Upgraded Points, a financial information website, found that the California metropolitan area with the most severe credit card delinquencies—defined as 90 days or more past due—is the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario region with a 15.2 percent delinquency rate, the eighth worst in the nation. Meanwhile, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area had the lowest in the nation at 6.3 percent.

According to data compiled by personal finance company WalletHub in January, California ranks 11th in overall credit card delinquency with 21.58 percent. Another WalletHub report, released in July 2024, found that the city of Chula Vista in San Diego County leads the nation in the largest increase in credit card delinquencies, nearly 85 percent during the first quarter of 2024.

Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate in California remained relatively steady from July to December 2024, ticking only slightly higher to 5.5 percent. The manufacturing sector, however, saw a 3.4 percent decrease in employment over the same period.

Household debt is not only on the rise in California. The New York Fed numbers show that nationwide household debt increased by $93 billion to reach $18.04 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2024. Furthermore, mortgage balances nationwide increased by $11 billion in the third quarter to $12.61 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter.

Auto loan, credit card, and home equity lines of credit delinquencies slightly increased in 2024. Auto loans, in particular, saw an $11 billion increase to $1.66 trillion in the fourth quarter. Credit card balances, meanwhile, increased $45 billion in the fourth quarter for a total of $1.21 trillion at the end of last year.