Despite the financial stress of Golden State life, Californians are relatively good at paying bills compared with the rest of the nation.

Take student loans. In the first quarter of 2025, 18% of California student loans were late.

That may seem like a stunningly high rate of skipped payments, but it’s the 10th-lowest delinquency rate among the states and the District of Columbia. And across the nation, 23% of student loans were delinquent.

That’s what was discovered by my trusty spreadsheet’s review of bill payment data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The research, from 2003 to the first quarter of 2025, examines debt levels and payments drawn from individuals with credit histories.

The latest report was the first since student loan repayment reprieves ended. That means late payments on many educational loans were once again being reported to credit bureaus. This provides a window into the scope of this education-linked financial challenge.

Student loans account for approximately 5% of all California debt. These borrowings equal $4,660 per capita of the $87,620 total consumer borrowings statewide.

Nationally, it’s a bigger hurdle: Student loans run $5,470 per capita — or 9% of Americans’ $62,490 per capita debts.

The ability to pay varies wildly. Mississippi was the worst at student loan repayment, with 45% of these debts in arrears. The best at making payments resided in Illinois and Massachusetts, with a 14% delinquency rate.

Bigger picture

To start 2025, only 1.9% of all California consumer debts were 90 days or more past due.

Yes, the percentage of skipped bills increased from 1.6% at year-end 2024. And it’s California’s highest level since the second quarter of 2020, when coronavirus lockdowns severely impacted the economy. However, this level of delinquency is significantly lower than the 3.6% average lateness since 2003.

Nationally, 2.9% of bills were late in the first quarter, up from 1.9% at year’s end. It’s historically low. American tardiness averaged 3.8% during the last 22 years.

California’s economy is challenged. Job creation has slowed to a crawl. The state remains unaffordable for the masses. The Donald Trump administration’s “America First” approach collides with California’s globally oriented mindset. Consumer confidence is also down.

That angst can be found in the slowdown in Californians taking on new debts.

In the first quarter, total borrowings increased at an annual rate of only 0.8%. That’s well below the 3.3% growth pace since 2003.

It’s similar across the nation. Borrowings are up 1% in a year versus a 3.3% average growth.

Home sweet home

Californians are improving their chances with home loans.

Just 0.56% of mortgage balances were 90 days or more late to start 2025. That’s down from 0.58% at year’s end — the highest level since the second quarter of 2020. And lateness is below the average of 2.8% late home loans since 2003.

California’s improvement rate comes as more Americans struggle to make timely mortgage payments.

In the first quarter, 0.9% of U.S. home loans were late — the worst payment pace in five years. That’s up from 0.6% at year’s end, but this is still comfortably below the 2.6% historical norm.

There is a rising level of deeply troubled homeowners. California had 15 new foreclosures per 1,000 consumers in the first quarter. That’s the highest since the first quarter of 2020 and up from 12 at year’s end. But to be fair, it’s also nowhere near the 88 per 1,000 average since 2003.

Same story nationally with 21 U.S. foreclosure starts per 1,000 consumers — up from 14 at year’s end but well off the historic pace of 70.

What’s the score?

To further grade California’s bill-paying habits, my trusty spreadsheet also analyzed two rankings of credit scores. These are the curious grades that bankers use to estimate their chances of being repaid by borrowers.

When averaging state results from FICO and VantageScore, the typical Californian had a credit score of 714 last year. That was equal to the national median and ranked 24th- best among the states and the District of Columbia. The highest credit scores were found in Minnesota, at 734. Mississippi has the lowest at 676.

Credit scores run from a high of 850 to a low of 300. According to credit bureau Experian, California’s typical score of 714 is within the “good” range.

“Lenders view consumers with scores in the good range as ‘acceptable’ borrowers, and may offer them a variety of credit products, though not necessarily at the lowest available interest rates,” Experian explained in a guide to credit scores.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com.