One thing that makes me happy these days is that my mortgage is paid off. As an older adult, it helps my financial situation. However, for many people, housing costs are a huge issue.
It’s a challenging time to purchase a home these days because prices have gone up so much recently, and housing shortages make it difficult to find what you want even if you have the funds.
Mortgage rates rose in 37 of the 50 states between the first quarter and the second quarter of 2026, WalletHub, a personal-finance company, said in a new report “States Where Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing the Most.”
The average mortgage interest rate has stayed above 6 percent on 30-year fixed mortgages during 2026, and has only dipped slightly lower for 15-year fixed loans. The average interest rate varies widely by state, too.
| Mortgages increasing the most | Mortgages increasing the Least |
| 1. Mississippi | 41. Vermont |
| 2. Colorado | 42. Rhode Island |
| 3. Tennessee | 43. West Virginia |
| 4. Wisconsin | 44. Maine |
| 5. Missouri | 45. Nevada |
| 6. North Carolina | 46. Texas |
| 7. Kansas | 47. Montana |
| 8. Arkansas | 48. Wyoming |
| 9. New Hampshire | 49. South Dakota |
| 10. South Carolina | 50. North Dakota |
Although interest rates are still down slightly from the highs of last year, they’re a far cry from the historic lows during the pandemic, Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst said in an email.
Mississippi experienced the largest increase in the average mortgage interest rate between the first and second quarter of 2026, at about 1.9 percent, according to the WalletHub report. This increase is the highest of any state, edging out the second ranked state by 0.32 percent. As of the second quarter of 2026, the average mortgage interest rate in Mississippi was more than 5.5 percent, the 21st-most expensive rate in the country.
