Mortgage Delinquency Rising In Milwaukee, New WalletHub Data Shows

WISCONSIN — Mortgage delinquency is rising in Milwaukee and across most of the country, according to new WalletHub data comparing Q1 and Q2 of 2025.

The study found that only 13 of the 100 largest U.S. cities saw any improvement. Analysts said the overall trend is worsening nearly everywhere.

“The rate of mortgage delinquency varies significantly from city to city, ranging from around 3 percent to nearly 24 percent,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “The bad news is that while people in some cities are having much more difficulty paying their mortgages than others, the problem as a whole is also getting worse this year. In fact, the mortgage delinquency rate actually increased in all but 13 of the 100 cities in our study between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025.”

Milwaukee ranks 21st nationally, with 12.26 percent of mortgages delinquent in Q2 2025. That represents a slight 0.32 percent increase from the previous quarter.

Madison, the other Wisconsin city in the report, ranks 97th with a much lower delinquency rate of 3.22 percent. That figure is still up 4.50 percent compared to Q1.

Regional neighbors also saw increases:

• Chicago: 7.90 percent delinquent (up 9.52 percent)
• Minneapolis: 8.50 percent delinquent (up 7.17 percent)
• Des Moines: 5.96 percent delinquent (up 7.04 percent)
• Kansas City: 10.01 percent delinquent (up 11.88 percent)
• St. Louis: 8.66 percent delinquent (down 3.77 percent)

WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said cities at the top of the list are still getting worse. She noted that Laredo, Texas, the most delinquent city in the country, “experienced a nearly 6 percent increase between Q1 2025 and Q2 2025,” despite already leading the nation.

Here are the ten U.S. cities with the highest mortgage delinquency rates in Q2 2025, according to WalletHub:

1. Laredo, TX: 23.85 percent
2. Detroit, MI: 18.72 percent
3. Newark, NJ: 16.75 percent
4. Baton Rouge, LA: 15.86 percent
5. Philadelphia, PA: 15.79 percent
6. Baltimore, MD: 15.42 percent
7. New Orleans, LA: 15.04 percent
8. Greensboro, NC: 14.78 percent
9. El Paso, TX: 14.69 percent
10. Lubbock, TX: 14.47 percent

WalletHub’s analysis is based on proprietary user data from Q1 and Q2 of 2025.