For a lot of young adults, credit cards are no longer just a convenience; they are now a way to pay for everyday things. But delinquency rates are rising among younger cardholders, especially in Louisville, because interest rates are at their highest level in history and student loan payments are due again.
Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Upgraded Points found that 16% of credit cardholders in the Louisville/Jefferson County metro area who are 18 to 34 years old are at least 90 days late on their payments. This is slightly higher than the national average of 15.5%.
The report says that the average credit card debt for young people in Louisville is $3,347, and more than a third (36.5%) of them are using more than 75% of their available credit, which is a sign of financial stress.
Since 2021, when stimulus checks and a pause in student loan payments temporarily helped balance sheets, the number of young people who are behind on their credit cards has gone up by almost five percentage points. Now, the youngest adults are defaulting at rates that are more than two points higher than the average adult.
The South shows the heaviest burden: in Mississippi, nearly one in four young borrowers is severely delinquent. Rates in nearby states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and West Virginia are all above 21%.
On the other hand, tech hubs with high wages, like San Jose (7.1%) and San Francisco (9.1%), have the lowest delinquency rates. This is because they have stronger job markets and higher starting salaries.
Louisville’s numbers, while not the worst in the country, show that the city’s younger residents are under more financial stress. These are people who are just starting out in their careers, have less savings and are dealing with an economy where costs are rising faster than wages.
Here is the full link to the report from Upgraded Points.
This article appears in Sep 1-30, 2025.