---
title: "Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding"
slug: plastic-ceiling
summary: "Credit card balances were $1.26 trillion in Q2 2026, up $54 billion from a year earlier"
category: "Debt"
unit: billions_usd
frequency: quarterly
direction: bidirectional
latest_value: 1263.0
latest_period: "2026-Q2"
trend: rising
last_updated: "2026-08-11T00:00:00Z"
source: "New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax"
source_url: https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/."
---

# Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding

Also tracked as Plastic Ceiling.

> Credit card balances were $1.26 trillion in Q2 2026, up $54 billion from a year earlier

## Current Reading

As of 2026-Q2, Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding is **$1.26 trillion** (rising).

in total credit card debt — up from a year earlier

## What Changed

- Credit card balances were $1.26 trillion in Q2 2026, up from $1.21 trillion a year earlier.
- Of 94 quarterly readings since 2003, it is the second highest.
- Higher than a year earlier for 19 quarters in a row.
- Q1 2026 was revised down by $10 billion, to $1.24 trillion.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2026-Q2 | $1.263T |
| 2026-Q1 | $1.242T |
| 2025-Q4 | $1.277T |
| 2025-Q3 | $1.233T |
| 2025-Q2 | $1.209T |
| 2025-Q1 | $1.182T |
| 2024-Q4 | $1.211T |
| 2024-Q3 | $1.166T |
| 2024-Q2 | $1.142T |
| 2024-Q1 | $1.115T |
| 2023-Q4 | $1.129T |
| 2023-Q3 | $1.079T |

## Historical Context

- Peak since 2003: **$1.28 trillion** in Q4 2025
- Low since 2003: **$659 billion** in Q1 2014
- Pre-pandemic average (2015-01 – 2019-12): **$793.65 billion**
- Post-pandemic average (2020-01 – 2024-12): **$952.55 billion**

## Methodology

This indicator carries quarterly observations and is interpreted as moving in both directions against household distress, with no single end of the range reading as the distressed one. Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax.
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax — [https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc](https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc)

Data retrieved: 2026-08-11T00:00:00Z

## Related Indicators

- [falling-behind](https://americandefault.org/indicators/falling-behind/)
- [the-buffer](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-buffer/)
- [the-card-tax](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-card-tax/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/plastic-ceiling.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/plastic-ceiling.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/plastic-ceiling.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/plastic-ceiling.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Total Credit Card Debt Outstanding." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/plastic-ceiling/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.