Millions of Mortgages Exposed
Same income. Same loan amount. Same neighborhood. The only difference?
Higher rate spread above benchmark. On a $300K loan, that's thousands more over the life of the mortgage.
Worst B/W states: Wisconsin (+0.40pp), Louisiana (+0.40pp), South Carolina (+0.37pp), Michigan (+0.36pp), Illinois (+0.35pp)
Rate spread measures how much above the benchmark rate (APOR) a borrower pays. Higher spread = worse deal. Even after accounting for market conditions and loan terms, the gaps persist.
A fraction of a percent doesn't sound like much. But over 30 years, it adds up to tens of thousands of dollars. Adjust the numbers to see the real cost.
White Borrower
6.500%
$1896/mo
Total: $682,633
Black Borrower (same everything else)
6.800%
$1956/mo
Total: $704,079
Extra cost over 30 years:
$21,446
That's $60 more per month, every month, for 30 years.
Mortgage rate disparities exist in every state. This map shows the average rate spread gap — how much more borrowers of color pay compared to white borrowers, even for the same loan.
“Maybe they have lower incomes.” No. Even within the same income bracket, the rate spread gap persists. This chart shows the average spread above benchmark by race, at each income level.
Key Finding
The income explanation doesn't hold up. At every income level, minority borrowers tend to pay higher rate spreads. The gap often widens at higher incomes, suggesting the disparity isn't about ability to pay.
Where are the biggest lending gaps? States ranked by the Black-White rate spread difference. Positive = Black borrowers pay more above benchmark.
How the rate spread gap changed from 2018 to 2023. Rate spread measures how much above the benchmark rate borrowers pay — higher means a worse deal. The racial gap persists through booms, COVID, and rate hikes.
2020
COVID-19 drove rates down across the board, but minorities still paid more above benchmark.
2022–23
Fed rate hikes pushed spreads up again. The gap between Black and White borrowers fluctuated but never closed.
Persistent
Across all 6 years, Black and Hispanic borrowers consistently paid higher rate spreads than White and Asian borrowers.
After controlling for income, loan amount, loan-to-value ratio, debt-to-income ratio, loan type, occupancy type, state, and year — significant racial disparities persist.
| Race / Ethnicity | Rate Premium | 95% CI | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | +7.1 bps | (6.2, 8.0) | p < 0.001 *** |
| Hispanic | +9.7 bps | (8.7, 10.6) | p < 0.001 *** |
| Asian | -13.1 bps | (-14.1, -12.1) | p < 0.001 *** |
| American Indian / Alaska Native | +0.4 bps | (-3.3, 4.1) | n.s. |
| Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander | +2.0 bps | (-3.3, 7.3) | n.s. |
Baseline: White non-Hispanic borrowers. "bps" = basis points (1 bps = 0.01 percentage points). OLS regression, N = 1,892,859, R² = 0.0431.
If credit scores fully explained the gap, Black and Hispanic borrowers would need systematically lower scores even at the same income, DTI, and LTV. Research by the Federal Reserve and CFPB finds credit scores explain part — but not all — of the disparity.
If you believe you've been charged a higher rate because of your race, you have rights. Share this data, file complaints, and support fair lending.
New data, updates, and analysis from Justice Index.
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This project uses data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), administered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). HMDA requires most mortgage lenders to report detailed data about each application, including the borrower's race, income, loan terms, and the interest rate charged.
We analyze originated mortgage loans (home purchase and refinance) for primary residences across all 50 states and DC, spanning 2018–2023. Rate spreads (above the benchmark APOR rate) are compared by race, stratified by income bracket, loan type (conventional, FHA, VA, USDA), and state. An OLS regression on 1.9 million loans controls for income, loan amount, LTV, DTI, loan type, occupancy type, state, and year — see the Regression Analysis section above.
Justice Index · Three Investigations
Bias doesn't stop at lending. It follows people from the traffic stop to the courtroom to the bank.