2 Washington cities among top 5 struggling with credit card payments

Two cities in Washington are among the worst in the nation for making timely credit card payments.

Seattle and Spokane were both in the top five cities where credit card delinquency is increasing the most, according to a study by WalletHub last week.

Delinquent credit card accounts increased by 15% in Seattle from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025. Yet, the finance hub noted Seattle has relatively low credit card debt and has the second-lowest overall delinquency rate across all types of debt.

Seattle came in as the third-worst city for timely credit card payments, while Spokane was fourth. The city struggling the most with credit card payments was Fremont, California; the second was Plano, Texas; and rounding out the top five was Newark, New Jersey.

“Any increase in credit card delinquency could be a sign of growing stress in particular populations or of growing expenses straining even well-managed budgets,” WalletHub wrote.

What happens if you miss a credit card payment?

However, WalletHub’s editor, John Kiernan, reminded people not to worry if they miss a credit card payment.

“Your issuer won’t report you as delinquent to the credit bureaus until you’re 30 days late,” Kiernan stated on WalletHub’s website. “You’ll still have to deal with any late fee or penalty rate consequences your issuer decides to implement, but if you can manage to get current before 30 days are up, you can avoid a big credit score hit.”

He also noted that people can ask their bank for a hardship plan, which may allow them to skip a payment, get a lower interest rate, or temporarily avoid fees.

Other advice from WalletHub includes: creating a realistic budget, tracking frivolous spending, setting up automatic credit card payments, building an emergency fund, keeping creditors informed about any issues, and trying to resolve a missed payment within 30 days.

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