---
title: "Total Household Debt"
slug: total-household-debt
summary: "U.S. household debt was $18.77 trillion in Q2 2026, up $382.5 billion from a year earlier"
category: "Debt"
unit: billions_usd
frequency: quarterly
direction: bidirectional
latest_value: 18770.5
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/total-household-debt/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Household Debt [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Total Household Debt.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Total Household Debt.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/."
---

# Total Household Debt

> U.S. household debt was $18.77 trillion in Q2 2026, up $382.5 billion from a year earlier

## Current Reading

As of 2026-Q2, Total Household Debt is **$18.77 trillion** (rising).

in total household debt — up from a year earlier

## What Changed

- Total U.S. household debt was $18.77 trillion in Q2 2026, up from $18.39 trillion a year earlier.
- Of 94 quarterly readings since 2003, it is the third highest.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2026-Q2 | $18.7705T |
| 2026-Q1 | $18.784T |
| 2025-Q4 | $18.7757T |
| 2025-Q3 | $18.585T |
| 2025-Q2 | $18.388T |
| 2025-Q1 | $18.203T |
| 2024-Q4 | $18.036T |
| 2024-Q3 | $17.943T |
| 2024-Q2 | $17.796T |
| 2024-Q1 | $17.687T |
| 2023-Q4 | $17.503T |
| 2023-Q3 | $17.291T |

## Historical Context

- Peak since 2003: **$18.78 trillion** in Q1 2026
- Low since 2003: **$7.23 trillion** in Q1 2003
- Pre-pandemic average (2015-01 – 2019-12): **$12.91 trillion**
- Post-pandemic average (2020-01 – 2024-12): **$16.18 trillion**

## 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-safety-net](https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-safety-net/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

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

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Total Household Debt [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Total Household Debt." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Total Household Debt." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/total-household-debt/.

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.