Consumers in the highest VantageScore credit tiers are showing increased signs of credit stress on a year-over-year basis,

— Susan Fahy, Chief Digital Officer at VantageScore, regarding VantageScore’s July 2025 CreditGauge™ data.

Investopedia highlighted VantageScore’s July 2025 CreditGauge data, revealing that more Americans are falling behind on their debt, and that’s hurting their credit scores.

Last month, late-stage credit delinquencies, which are payments that are over 90 days late, increased across all credit score levels. As a result, the average credit score fell by one point in July to 701, marking the first drop since February.

Early and mid-stage delinquencies across credit score tiers were also up from the year before, suggesting some borrowers are finding it harder to keep up with payments even before debts reach more severe stages.

Delinquencies on Mortgages and Auto Loans had the highest year-over-year increases in July, while those on Credit Cards and Personal Loans declined. Balances for Auto Loans and Mortgages also increased from the previous month, even though originations fell for Auto Loans and were steady for Mortgages.

Sustained inflation for car and house prices is driving higher balances in these credit categories,

— Fahy added.

Click here to read more on VantageScore’s July 2025 CreditGauge™ on our website.

To read the Investopedia article, click here.