A new National Association of Realtors analysis of on U.S. Census Bureau data has found the COVID-19 pandemic is hurting homeowners with limited income the most, and many are opting to simply not pay their mortgages.

The data, which used the Census Bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey, estimates that 16.7 percent of Connecticut homeowners making less than $50,000 a year did not pay their mortgage last month, while 76.5 percent did. A further 6.8 percent deferred their payments. That compares to only 68.1 percent of Massachusetts homeowners in the same bracket who paid their mortgage, 25.1 percent who did not pay and 6.8 percent who deferred.

The higher up the income ladder the study went in Connecticut, it found steady improvement in payment rates. Eighty-six percent of homeowners making between $50,000 and $100,000 paid their mortgage, compared to 87.1 percent of homeowners making between $100,000 and $150,000, 93 percent of homeowners making between $150,000 and $200,000 and 99.3 percent of homeowners who make more than $200,000 a year.

The split between deferral and non-payment was even at 6.1 percent among borrowers in the $50,000 to $100,000 bracket, slightly skewed towards non-payment (7.3 percent) and away from deferral (5.6 percent) in the next bracket up and more heavily weighted towards non-payment in the $150,000 to $200,000 bracket where the split was 5.1 percent to 1.9 percent, respectively.

Across the country, nearly 30 percent of owners with income less than $50K did not make their payment on time, NAR found, with the largest share of non-payment in that income bracket – 33 percent – found in California, Louisiana and North Dakota. NAR’s figures align with unemployment data, which has consistently showed the bulk of layoffs concentrated in lower-earning sectors like hospitality, retail and healthcare and social assistance