Texas ranks 10th among states whose residents are most behind on their debt payments, according to a new WalletHub study.
The personal finance firm looked at data from the first three months of 2026 to see where people were falling behind on debt payments. It measured how many accounts were late on payments and how much total money in each state was overdue.
“Delinquency at an individual level may be due to simple forgetfulness or problems outside of a person’s control, but when people in a state are delinquent at a high rate, it indicates that residents as a whole are struggling financially,” according to the study.
WalletHub gave each state a score from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most delinquent on debt. Texas ranked 10th with a score of 49.37. Roughly 10.5% of individual credit accounts were late on payments during the first three months of 2026, while 8.9% of debt dollars were overdue during that same time frame.
Tennessee residents were slightly more delinquent on debt than Texans, on average, with a score of 50.4. Residents of New Mexico, meanwhile, were slightly less delinquent, with a score of 49.01.
Mississippi fared worst when it comes to debt, with nearly 14% of credit accounts in debt and 13.6% of dollars overdue. The least delinquent state was Iowa. Only 7.3% of Iowa credit accounts were overdue on payments.
Debt delinquency, particularly during a short and volatile period when gas prices spiked, is far from a perfect measure of a state’s economic health. Still, it can become a self-fulfilling cycle: Missed credit payments can lead to higher interest rates, making people more likely to fall further into debt.
“Being delinquent on debt can lead to fees, credit score damage, increased interest rates and other negative repercussions. That’s why it’s important to get current as quickly as possible,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst for WalletHub.