U.S. household debt
Average American Debt Was $63,200 at the End of 2025
About this number
At the end of 2025, the average adult with a credit report owed $63,200. This includes mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans and other household debt.
Measured by people, it looks strained. About one family in five fell behind on a loan payment in the year before the 2025 survey by the Federal Reserve Board (formally the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System), up from about one in eight in 2022.
Both are true at once, because the dollars and the trouble sit with different families. One count is by the dollar. The other is by the person.
By the numbers
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$18.77 trillion owed by U.S. households in the second quarter of 2026, up $382.5 billion from a year earlier. Mortgages are 70% of it.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York -
About 11 cents of every after-tax dollar goes to debt payments.
Federal Reserve Board, second quarter of 2026 -
Of first-mortgage dollars, 92.2% carry a fixed rate, and the average rate is 4.5%, against 21.19% on bank card accounts.
FHFA, second quarter of 2026; Federal Reserve Board, third quarter of 2026
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77.0% of families owe something; 23.0% owe nothing at all.
Federal Reserve Board, 2025 survey -
24.8% of the lowest-income families with debt were two months or more behind, the most in any survey since 1989. In the top tenth by income, it was 0.6%.
Federal Reserve Board, 2025 survey
How much debt is normal for your age?
Families headed by someone 45 to 54 owe the most: the typical one with debt owed $160,600 in 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances. Most families with debt owe less than the averages you may have read.
Counted per adult instead, adults in their 40s carry the most debt: about $116,000 for every adult ages 40 to 49 in the second quarter of 2026, by our calculation from New York Fed and Census figures. People in their 30s and 40s together owe almost half of all household debt.
The two don’t line up because each source publishes its own age bands and counts a different group: the Federal Reserve Board’s survey counts families that owe something, grouped by the age of the head of the family; the New York Fed divides each age group’s total debt by every adult that age, including people who owe nothing. Both put the peak in middle age.
The first table gives both numbers for each age. The typical figure is the family in the middle, with half owing more and half owing less. The average is the total divided by the number of families, and a few large mortgages pull it up. The last column is the person count (it counts families, not individuals): the share of families with debt at that age who were two months or more behind on a payment.
| Age | Families with any debt (%) | Typical debt, families with debt ($) | Average debt, families with debt ($) | Two months or more behind, families with debt (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 80.3 | 52,000 | 131,500 | 13.1 |
| 35 to 44 | 88.4 | 137,400 | 223,300 | 13.1 |
| 45 to 54 | 85.8 | 160,600 | 241,200 | 12.6 |
| 55 to 64 | 81.4 | 101,200 | 198,000 | 9.0 |
| 65 to 74 | 67.7 | 53,700 | 131,400 | 7.3 |
| 75 and older | 52.2 | 32,300 | 104,600 | 5.2 |
| All families | 77.0 | 88,100 | 179,100 | 10.7 |
Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances, 2025, in 2025 dollars. “Typical” is the median. The three right-hand columns count only families with debt. “Behind” means any payment 60 days or more late in the past year. The survey counts families, and sorts them by the age of the person it calls the head of the family.
Read across a row and the two counts part ways. Under 35, families owe less than at any other working age, $52,000 for the typical one with debt, yet 13.1% of them were two months behind, about as many as at any age. Between 45 and 54, the typical debt is about three times as large, and the share behind is about the same.
Under 35 is also where the average runs furthest above the typical figure among working ages, $131,500 against $52,000, because a minority of young families have a full-size mortgage. Only 30.5% of young families have one.
The chart and the second table use the New York Fed figures instead: debt per adult, by decade of age.
The dark part of each bar is the mortgage. Watch it grow through the 30s and 40s.
Debt per adult peaks in the 40s, and nearly three-quarters of it is mortgage
Household debt per adult by age, dollars, by kind of debt, United States, the second quarter of 2026.
| Age | Debt per adult ($) | Mortgage per adult ($) | Everything else per adult ($) | Share of all household debt (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 29 | 19,900 | 8,600 | 11,300 | 6 |
| 30 to 39 | 85,900 | 58,800 | 26,300 | 21 |
| 40 to 49 | 116,000 | 84,700 | 28,800 | 26 |
| 50 to 59 | 103,600 | 74,700 | 25,700 | 22 |
| 60 to 69 | 67,800 | 48,700 | 16,500 | 15 |
| 70 and older | 40,600 | 29,600 | 9,300 | 10 |
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Q2 2026; adults from the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates for July 1, 2025. Our calculation. “Everything else” includes car loans, cards, student loans and other debt, but not home equity lines. The groups add to slightly less than the national total because some people’s birth year is unknown.
Pick your age group to see what families like yours owe. Add your state to see how it compares.
All families
77.0% have some debt. 23.0% owe nothing.
The typical family with debt owes $88,100. The average is $179,100.
The average is about twice the typical amount, because a few large mortgages pull it up.
10.7% of families with debt were two months or more behind on a payment in 2025.
| Kind of debt | Families that have it (%) | Typical balance for those who do ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage or home equity line on their home | 42.0 | 183,600 |
| Car loan | 32.1 | 17,000 |
| Credit card balance | 44.7 | 3,100 |
| Student loan | 20.0 | 25,600 |
The most common debt is a credit card balance, held by 44.7%.
The age figures come from the Federal Reserve Board’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances and count families. The state figures come from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and count people with a credit report, including those who owe nothing. The two use different groups, so the dollar amounts don’t line up. This shows where groups of people stand. It isn’t advice about your own debt.
In your 20s
Adults under 30 owe about $19,900 each, the least of any age group. Student loans are 28% of their debt and car loans 19%, bigger shares than at any later age. Card balances carry the highest rate, an average 21.19% on bank card accounts.
In your 30s
Debt per adult jumps to about $85,900. Mortgages are now 68% of it. People in their 30s also hold the most student debt per adult of any age, about $11,300.
In your 40s
This is the peak: about $116,000 per adult, $84,700 of it mortgages. Card balances per adult are near their high here too, about $6,900.
In your 50s
Debt per adult starts to fall, to about $103,600. Card balances per adult are about $7,000, about the same as in the 40s. About half of families headed by someone 55 to 64 carry a card balance: 49.4%.
In your 60s
About $67,800 per adult. Fewer families owe anything: 67.7% of families headed by someone 65 to 74 have debt, against 81.4% at 55 to 64.
At 70 and older
About $40,600 per adult, and 73% of it is mortgages. Borrowers 70 and older owe $1.82 trillion in all, about four times the $461 billion they owed at the end of 2007. There are more older Americans than there were, and the figure isn’t adjusted for that or for inflation. About half of families headed by someone 75 or older owe nothing: 47.8%.
How much debt does the average American have?
The $63,200 in the headline comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and it counts every kind of household debt: mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans and the rest. It’s $1,540 more than a year earlier, when it was $61,660, and up from $51,580 at the end of 2019.
Prices rose faster than that over those six years. In end-of-2025 dollars, the $51,580 of 2019 comes to about $65,000, so the average person owes 2.8% less than before the pandemic, once inflation is counted.
Here’s how the $63,200 is worked out.
- Start with every balance on every credit report in the New York Fed’s sample.
- Divide by everyone in the sample, including the people who owe nothing at all.
- About $44,300 of the result is mortgages. Everything else, from car loans to cards, is about $18,900.
- Only 42.0% of families owe money on the home they live in, yet in the Federal Reserve Board’s survey, home loans are 73.1% of all the dollars families owe.
So if you rent, or your house is paid off, the average mostly isn’t a picture of you. Credit cards show the flip side: they’re the most common kind of debt, held by 44.7% of families, yet in the Federal Reserve Board’s survey they’re only 2.6% of the dollars families owe. In the New York Fed’s credit-report total, cards are 6.7%, because lenders report balances that include new charges people will pay off in full; the survey counts only what’s still owed after the last payment.
The person count gives the typical family instead. In 2025, the middle family with any debt owed $88,100. The average for the same families was $179,100, about twice as much.
Here’s the national total by kind of debt. Mortgages fell $74 billion in the second quarter of 2026, “mostly due to a servicer transfer gap in the reporting of mortgages,” the New York Fed’s report says. A servicer is the company that collects your mortgage payment. When loans move between servicers, they can drop out of the credit-report data for a while.
| Type of debt | Balance ($ billions) | Change from the previous quarter ($ billions) | Change from a year earlier ($ billions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | 13,117.0 | −74.0 | +182.0 |
| Home equity line of credit | 458.5 | +12.5 | +47.5 |
| Auto loan | 1,713.0 | +28.0 | +58.0 |
| Credit card | 1,263.0 | +21.0 | +54.0 |
| Student loan | 1,651.0 | −7.0 | +13.0 |
| Other | 568.0 | +6.0 | +28.0 |
| Total | 18,770.5 | −13.5 | +382.5 |
Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dollars as reported, not adjusted for inflation. “Other” includes consumer finance loans and store cards.
How many Americans are debt free?
Nearly a quarter of families (23.0%) owed nothing at all in 2025, the Federal Reserve Board found. The other 77.0% had some debt, about the same share as 77.4% in 2022 and 76.6% in 2019.
It varies a lot by age. Only 11.6% of families headed by someone 35 to 44 owe nothing. At 75 and older, it’s about half: 47.8%.
The survey counts families, not individual people, so it can’t say how many adults owe nothing.
Having debt isn’t the same as struggling with it.
Why does debt look calm by the dollar and strained by the person?
Because the two counts weigh different things. The dollar count adds up balances, so a $300,000 mortgage counts 100 times as much as a $3,000 card balance.
Two ways of counting give two different pictures. National totals add up dollars, so a family with a large mortgage counts for far more than a family that’s behind on a small bill. Surveys ask families directly, so every family counts the same, however much it owes. Joanne Hsu, who runs the University of Michigan’s consumer surveys, put it this way at a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago event on Sept. 30, 2026: “One person one vote, versus one dollar one vote.”
Here’s how far apart the two counts have moved.
Each panel has a dashed line at its 2007 level. The dollar line sits far below its own. The person line sits above.
Since 2007, debt fell against income while more families fell behind
Household and nonprofit debt as a share of a year’s after-tax income, quarterly, 1989 to the second quarter of 2026; families with debt two months or more behind, each Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989 to 2025.
Two common explanations for the gap don’t fit.
It isn’t that Americans borrowed too much across the board. Against income, debt is below where it stood at the end of 2019 (97.2%), let alone 2007.
It isn’t that everyone is struggling. In the top tenth of families by income, 0.6% of those with debt were two months behind in 2025. Among renters with debt, it was 19.3%, the most in any survey since 1989.
What does fit is who owes which dollars. Take every $100 households owe.
- About $70 of it is mortgages.
- Those mortgage dollars are mostly locked in. Of the first mortgages FHFA tracks, 92.2% of the dollars owed carry a fixed rate, and 47.6% are below 4%. The average rate is 4.5%.
- About $7 is credit card balances, at an average of 21.19% on bank card accounts. That’s nearly five times the mortgage rate.
- The families who owe those big, cheap mortgage dollars are mostly the ones who rarely fall behind. Owners with debt owed a typical $173,000 in 2025; 7.1% were two months behind. Renters with debt owed a typical $15,000; 19.3% were two months behind.
So the dollar count is mostly a count of homeowners with fixed-rate loans. The person count gives the renter who owes $15,000 the same weight as the homeowner who owes $173,000.
Watch the dark line. The share of mortgage dollars below 3% climbed from 3.8% at the end of 2019 to a peak in early 2022, then eased as those loans were paid off or replaced.
About one mortgage dollar in five is still below 3%
Share of first-mortgage dollars by interest rate (%), United States, quarterly, 2013 to the second quarter of 2026.
Who is falling behind on their debt?
About one family in five fell behind on a loan payment in the year before the Federal Reserve Board’s 2025 survey: 19.6%, up from 12.2% in 2022. And 8.2% of all families were two months or more behind, against 4.9% in 2022. Counting only families that have debt, it was 10.7%. The Board said families were more likely to be behind than at any point since its 2010 survey.
The lowest-income families are where it shows most.
The dark line is families with debt in the lowest-income fifth. Compare its last dot with the dashed line, the old high.
About one in four lowest-income families with debt was two months behind in 2025, the most since 1989
Families with debt with any payment 60 days or more late in the past year (%), each Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989 to 2025.
In 2025, 24.8% of the lowest-income families with debt were two months or more behind, up from 16.1% in 2022. The old high was 21.2%, in 2010. These families owe little by the dollar count: a typical $11,000 among those with debt. One survey’s small groups carry some sampling error, so the direction is firmer than the exact figure.
Credit records tell the same story. The Board matched its 2025 household survey to people’s credit records. Over the two years before the survey, average card balances rose $2,530 (37%) for people who said they were finding it difficult to get by. For people living comfortably, they rose $59.
Each bar is the average change in one group’s card balance over two years. Compare the first bar with the last.
Card balances grew $2,530 for people struggling to get by, and $59 for those living comfortably
Change in average credit card balance over two years, dollars, by how people said they were doing financially, 2025 survey matched to credit records.
People living comfortably accounted for 3% of the growth in card balances, the Federal Reserve Board found. In its two earlier surveys, their share was about a quarter. So a bigger card total doesn’t mean everyone is carrying more. Most of the growth came from people who said they were just getting by or finding it difficult to get by.
At the same time, a larger share of card accounts is cleared each month. In the second quarter of 2026, 36.9% of large-bank card accounts were paid off in full, the most in Philadelphia Fed data back to 2012, up from 31.9% at the end of 2019. The share paying only the minimum was 10.2%, about where it was before the pandemic (10.4%).
People feel it, too. In September 2026, people in the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations put their average chance of missing a minimum debt payment in the next three months at 12.2%. The series has run from 9.2% to 17.2% since 2013. Over the past year, it differed by age and income.
| Group | Average chance (%) |
|---|---|
| Under 40 | 17.3 |
| Over 60 | 7.5 |
| Household income under $50,000 | 17.6 |
| Household income over $100,000 | 6.4 |
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Survey of Consumer Expectations. Each figure averages the 12 monthly readings, because monthly figures for one group are noisy. The age and income groups are the survey’s own.
The New York Fed’s dollar count still matters, and it’s calmer. In the second quarter of 2026, 4.7% of household debt was at least 30 days behind, about the same as at the end of 2019 (4.7%), and far below the 11.9% at the end of 2009. A smaller share of balances is newly falling behind, too: 5.0% over the four quarters through the second quarter of 2026, down from 5.3% a year before.
Student loans
In the second quarter of 2026, 10.6% of student loan balances were 90 days or more behind, after late federal loans went back on credit reports in 2025. At the end of 2019, before payments were paused, it was 11.1%.
Counted by people, the Federal Reserve Board’s household survey found 20% of adults with student loans for their own education were behind or in collections in 2024, up from 16% a year earlier. As of May 2026, collections on defaulted federal student loans were suspended with no timeline to restart, New York Fed researchers wrote. More on the student loan default statistics page.
Car loans
In the second quarter of 2026, 5.5% of auto loan balances were 90 days or more behind, up from 4.9% at the end of 2019. That’s just under the series high of 5.6%, set in the first quarter of 2026, in data back to 2003. More on our auto loan delinquency page.
Credit cards
New York Fed researchers wrote that 12.8% of card balances were 90 days or more behind in the first quarter of 2026. But that figure counts dollars, not people, and it’s inflated by old debt. From 2004 through 2012, about 40% of charged-off card debts were still on credit reports a year later. By 2024, it was 80%. A charged-off debt is one the lender has written off as a loss. The borrower usually still owes it. More on our credit card default statistics page.
The debt that hardly shows
Some borrowing barely registers in the dollar count. In 2025, 16% of adults used buy now, pay later, splitting a purchase into a few equal payments, and 26% of those users paid late at least once, the Federal Reserve Board found. More in our look at borrowing that doesn’t show up in the totals.
How much of Americans’ income goes to debt payments?
About 11 cents of every after-tax dollar Americans earned went to debt payments in the second quarter of 2026: 11.1%, according to the Federal Reserve Board. It’s the slice of each paycheck, after taxes, that’s spoken for by the mortgage, the car and the cards before anything else.
That’s less than at the end of 2019, before the pandemic, when it was 11.7%, and well below 15.8% at the end of 2007, just before the financial crisis. Mortgage payments alone took 5.8%.
Find the dashed line for 2019. Today’s figure sits just under it, and far under the 2007 peak.
Debt payments take a smaller share of income than in 2007 or 2019
Household debt payments as a share of after-tax income (%), United States, quarterly, 2005 to the second quarter of 2026. The Federal Reserve Board’s current method starts in 2005.
That national figure averages everyone, including people with no payments at all. The person count finds the families under strain: 8.6% of families spent more than 40% of their income on debt payments in 2025, up from 6.5% in 2022. That’s about one family in 12, “the largest share since 2010,” the Federal Reserve Board said. Among families with debt in the lowest-income fifth, it was 25.6%.
Is household debt at a record high?
Nearly, in dollars. Households owed $18.77 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, just under the record of $18.78 trillion set in the first quarter of 2026. That’s $382.5 billion more than a year earlier.
Counting inflation, no. Here are the two comparisons that matter, at today’s prices:
- Mid-2019, before the pandemic: $13.86 trillion then, $18.06 trillion at today’s prices. Today’s total is 3.9% higher. Per person with a credit report, it’s 2.8% lower than at the end of 2019 (see above).
- Mid-2008, just before the financial crisis: $12.60 trillion then, $19.27 trillion at today’s prices. Today’s total is 2.6% lower.
The line is debt in the dollars of each quarter. The dashed line is what households owed in mid-2008, restated in today’s prices. Today’s total still sits under it.
Household debt is near a record in dollars, and below 2008 once prices are counted
Total household debt, trillions of dollars, United States, quarterly, 2003 to the second quarter of 2026. Not adjusted for inflation; the dashed line is mid-2008’s total at today’s prices.
The total dipped $13.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, the first drop since the second quarter of 2020. The drop was mostly the mortgage reporting gap explained above. Debt other than mortgages and home equity lines kept growing: up $48 billion in the quarter, with car loans adding $28 billion and credit cards $21 billion. See the table by kind of debt →
Which states have the most household debt?
Washington, D.C., has the most household debt per person: $102,400 at the end of 2025, according to the New York Fed. Colorado and California come next, at $92,690 and $87,850. West Virginia has the least, $37,850, then Mississippi, at $41,450. In all, 19 places owe more per person than the U.S. figure of $63,200.
Darker places owe more per person. Tap or hover on a state for its figure and rank.
D.C., Colorado and California have the most debt per person
Household debt per person with a credit report, by state, dollars, at the end of 2025. Includes mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans and other debt.
Household debt per person, by state · Q4 2025
Owing more doesn’t mean falling behind more. In the ten places with the most debt per person, an average of 0.76% of mortgage balances were 90 days or more behind at the end of 2025. In the ten with the least, it was 1.16%. It’s a weak pattern, and we haven’t tested why.
Debt per person grew fastest in Idaho, up 37.6% from the end of 2019 in dollars, not adjusted for inflation, then Utah (34.2%) and Tennessee (33.4%). Every state’s figures are on our debt by state page.
What people get wrong about debt numbers
Why the numbers you’ve seen differ
- Debt per person
- $63,200
- Everyone with a credit report, including people who owe nothing (New York Fed, end of 2025)
- Experian’s average
- $104,755
- Experian’s own credit files; it doesn’t say whom it divides by (June 2025)
Same debt, different people in the bottom of the fraction.
A near-record total doesn’t mean record trouble. The total is in dollars, and prices rise. Against income, debt is lower than in 2019 or 2007.
Less debt than 2008, after inflation, doesn’t mean everyone’s fine. More of the lowest-income families with debt were two months behind in 2025 than in any survey since 1989. A calm total can sit on top of a hard year for a lot of people.
Experian’s $104,755 average. It comes from Experian’s own credit files as of June 2025. It’s an average, and Experian doesn’t say whom it divides by, so it can’t be lined up with the Fed’s numbers.
“90% of Americans are in debt.” Debt.org prints that figure with no source beside it (as of October 16, 2026). The Federal Reserve Board’s survey puts the share of families with any debt at 77.0%.
What comes next?
The New York Fed’s next quarterly report, covering July through September, is due November 10. If its explanation of the mortgage drop holds, we’d expect the missing mortgage balances to be back in that report. Its monthly survey of what people expect, including the chance of missing a payment, comes out November 9.
Student loan collections are the other thing to watch. In May, New York Fed researchers wrote that defaulted borrowers’ trouble with their other debts is likely to get worse once collections restart. They also wrote that spillover to the wider credit market is likely to be limited.
The next quarter’s total will be another dollar count, and it will say little about families. The person count is the slower one. The Board surveys families every three years, so the next full answer to whether that one family in five has caught up comes from its next survey.
If your debt feels heavy
Free help exists, and you don’t have to have it all figured out first.
a HUD-approved housing counselor is a trained adviser at an agency approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Their help with a mortgage you’re behind on is free. Call 800-569-4287 to find one.
nonprofit credit counseling agencies offer free or low-cost help with a budget and a plan for your debts.
your federal loan options are at StudentAid.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s site.
Household debt by type, every quarter
| Quarter | Total ($ trillions) | Mortgage ($ trillions) | Home equity line ($ trillions) | Auto loan ($ trillions) | Credit card ($ trillions) | Student loan ($ trillions) | Other ($ trillions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 18.771 | 13.117 | 0.459 | 1.713 | 1.263 | 1.651 | 0.568 |
| Q1 2026 | 18.784 | 13.191 | 0.446 | 1.685 | 1.242 | 1.658 | 0.562 |
| Q4 2025 | 18.776 | 13.170 | 0.434 | 1.667 | 1.277 | 1.664 | 0.564 |
| Q3 2025 | 18.585 | 13.072 | 0.422 | 1.655 | 1.233 | 1.653 | 0.550 |
| Q2 2025 | 18.388 | 12.935 | 0.411 | 1.655 | 1.209 | 1.638 | 0.540 |
| Q1 2025 | 18.203 | 12.804 | 0.402 | 1.642 | 1.182 | 1.631 | 0.542 |
| Q4 2024 | 18.036 | 12.605 | 0.396 | 1.655 | 1.211 | 1.615 | 0.554 |
| Q3 2024 | 17.943 | 12.594 | 0.387 | 1.644 | 1.166 | 1.606 | 0.546 |
| Q2 2024 | 17.796 | 12.519 | 0.380 | 1.626 | 1.142 | 1.585 | 0.544 |
| Q1 2024 | 17.687 | 12.442 | 0.376 | 1.616 | 1.115 | 1.595 | 0.543 |
| Q4 2023 | 17.503 | 12.252 | 0.360 | 1.607 | 1.129 | 1.601 | 0.554 |
| Q3 2023 | 17.291 | 12.140 | 0.349 | 1.595 | 1.079 | 1.599 | 0.529 |
| Q2 2023 | 17.063 | 12.014 | 0.340 | 1.582 | 1.031 | 1.569 | 0.527 |
| Q1 2023 | 17.047 | 12.044 | 0.339 | 1.562 | 0.986 | 1.604 | 0.512 |
| Q4 2022 | 16.899 | 11.923 | 0.336 | 1.552 | 0.986 | 1.595 | 0.507 |
| Q3 2022 | 16.505 | 11.669 | 0.322 | 1.524 | 0.925 | 1.574 | 0.491 |
| Q2 2022 | 16.154 | 11.387 | 0.319 | 1.502 | 0.887 | 1.589 | 0.470 |
| Q1 2022 | 15.842 | 11.180 | 0.317 | 1.469 | 0.841 | 1.590 | 0.445 |
| Q4 2021 | 15.576 | 10.930 | 0.318 | 1.458 | 0.856 | 1.576 | 0.438 |
| Q3 2021 | 15.243 | 10.672 | 0.317 | 1.443 | 0.804 | 1.584 | 0.423 |
| Q2 2021 | 14.957 | 10.442 | 0.322 | 1.415 | 0.787 | 1.570 | 0.421 |
| Q1 2021 | 14.644 | 10.160 | 0.335 | 1.382 | 0.770 | 1.584 | 0.413 |
| Q4 2020 | 14.559 | 10.043 | 0.349 | 1.374 | 0.819 | 1.555 | 0.419 |
| Q3 2020 | 14.353 | 9.861 | 0.362 | 1.360 | 0.807 | 1.546 | 0.417 |
| Q2 2020 | 14.266 | 9.776 | 0.375 | 1.343 | 0.817 | 1.537 | 0.418 |
| Q1 2020 | 14.300 | 9.713 | 0.386 | 1.346 | 0.893 | 1.535 | 0.427 |
| Q4 2019 | 14.145 | 9.557 | 0.390 | 1.331 | 0.927 | 1.508 | 0.432 |
| Q3 2019 | 13.952 | 9.437 | 0.396 | 1.315 | 0.881 | 1.498 | 0.425 |
| Q2 2019 | 13.860 | 9.406 | 0.399 | 1.297 | 0.868 | 1.478 | 0.412 |
| Q1 2019 | 13.668 | 9.244 | 0.406 | 1.280 | 0.848 | 1.486 | 0.404 |
| Q4 2018 | 13.544 | 9.124 | 0.412 | 1.274 | 0.870 | 1.457 | 0.407 |
| Q3 2018 | 13.512 | 9.140 | 0.422 | 1.265 | 0.844 | 1.442 | 0.399 |
| Q2 2018 | 13.293 | 8.999 | 0.432 | 1.238 | 0.829 | 1.405 | 0.390 |
| Q1 2018 | 13.211 | 8.939 | 0.436 | 1.229 | 0.815 | 1.407 | 0.385 |
| Q4 2017 | 13.148 | 8.882 | 0.444 | 1.221 | 0.834 | 1.378 | 0.389 |
| Q3 2017 | 12.955 | 8.743 | 0.448 | 1.213 | 0.808 | 1.357 | 0.386 |
| Q2 2017 | 12.839 | 8.691 | 0.452 | 1.190 | 0.784 | 1.344 | 0.378 |
| Q1 2017 | 12.725 | 8.627 | 0.456 | 1.167 | 0.764 | 1.344 | 0.367 |
| Q4 2016 | 12.576 | 8.480 | 0.473 | 1.157 | 0.779 | 1.310 | 0.377 |
| Q3 2016 | 12.350 | 8.350 | 0.472 | 1.135 | 0.747 | 1.279 | 0.367 |
| Q2 2016 | 12.287 | 8.362 | 0.478 | 1.103 | 0.729 | 1.259 | 0.356 |
| Q1 2016 | 12.252 | 8.369 | 0.485 | 1.071 | 0.712 | 1.261 | 0.354 |
| Q4 2015 | 12.116 | 8.249 | 0.487 | 1.064 | 0.733 | 1.232 | 0.351 |
| Q3 2015 | 12.065 | 8.260 | 0.492 | 1.045 | 0.714 | 1.203 | 0.351 |
| Q2 2015 | 11.853 | 8.116 | 0.499 | 1.006 | 0.703 | 1.190 | 0.339 |
| Q1 2015 | 11.851 | 8.171 | 0.510 | 0.968 | 0.684 | 1.189 | 0.329 |
| Q4 2014 | 11.827 | 8.170 | 0.510 | 0.955 | 0.700 | 1.157 | 0.335 |
| Q3 2014 | 11.710 | 8.131 | 0.512 | 0.934 | 0.680 | 1.126 | 0.327 |
| Q2 2014 | 11.632 | 8.096 | 0.521 | 0.905 | 0.669 | 1.118 | 0.323 |
| Q1 2014 | 11.650 | 8.165 | 0.526 | 0.875 | 0.659 | 1.111 | 0.314 |
| Q4 2013 | 11.521 | 8.049 | 0.529 | 0.863 | 0.683 | 1.080 | 0.317 |
| Q3 2013 | 11.280 | 7.897 | 0.535 | 0.845 | 0.672 | 1.027 | 0.304 |
| Q2 2013 | 11.153 | 7.841 | 0.540 | 0.814 | 0.668 | 0.994 | 0.296 |
| Q1 2013 | 11.231 | 7.932 | 0.552 | 0.794 | 0.660 | 0.986 | 0.307 |
| Q4 2012 | 11.341 | 8.033 | 0.563 | 0.783 | 0.679 | 0.966 | 0.317 |
| Q3 2012 | 11.310 | 8.028 | 0.573 | 0.768 | 0.674 | 0.956 | 0.311 |
| Q2 2012 | 11.384 | 8.147 | 0.589 | 0.750 | 0.672 | 0.914 | 0.312 |
| Q1 2012 | 11.436 | 8.187 | 0.612 | 0.737 | 0.679 | 0.904 | 0.319 |
| Q4 2011 | 11.537 | 8.268 | 0.627 | 0.734 | 0.704 | 0.874 | 0.330 |
| Q3 2011 | 11.661 | 8.402 | 0.639 | 0.730 | 0.693 | 0.870 | 0.327 |
| Q2 2011 | 11.730 | 8.516 | 0.625 | 0.713 | 0.694 | 0.851 | 0.330 |
| Q1 2011 | 11.754 | 8.544 | 0.641 | 0.706 | 0.696 | 0.839 | 0.329 |
| Q4 2010 | 11.713 | 8.452 | 0.668 | 0.711 | 0.730 | 0.812 | 0.341 |
| Q3 2010 | 11.844 | 8.609 | 0.673 | 0.710 | 0.731 | 0.778 | 0.343 |
| Q2 2010 | 11.943 | 8.703 | 0.683 | 0.702 | 0.744 | 0.762 | 0.349 |
| Q1 2010 | 12.117 | 8.834 | 0.695 | 0.705 | 0.762 | 0.758 | 0.363 |
| Q4 2009 | 12.166 | 8.843 | 0.706 | 0.722 | 0.795 | 0.721 | 0.379 |
| Q3 2009 | 12.279 | 8.944 | 0.708 | 0.739 | 0.812 | 0.695 | 0.382 |
| Q2 2009 | 12.407 | 9.063 | 0.713 | 0.743 | 0.824 | 0.675 | 0.389 |
| Q1 2009 | 12.530 | 9.135 | 0.714 | 0.766 | 0.843 | 0.663 | 0.409 |
| Q4 2008 | 12.670 | 9.257 | 0.705 | 0.791 | 0.866 | 0.639 | 0.412 |
| Q3 2008 | 12.675 | 9.294 | 0.692 | 0.809 | 0.858 | 0.611 | 0.412 |
| Q2 2008 | 12.599 | 9.273 | 0.679 | 0.810 | 0.850 | 0.586 | 0.401 |
| Q1 2008 | 12.537 | 9.234 | 0.663 | 0.808 | 0.837 | 0.579 | 0.415 |
| Q4 2007 | 12.372 | 9.101 | 0.647 | 0.815 | 0.839 | 0.548 | 0.422 |
| Q3 2007 | 12.133 | 8.925 | 0.631 | 0.818 | 0.817 | 0.529 | 0.413 |
| Q2 2007 | 11.850 | 8.706 | 0.619 | 0.807 | 0.796 | 0.514 | 0.408 |
| Q1 2007 | 11.495 | 8.422 | 0.605 | 0.794 | 0.764 | 0.506 | 0.404 |
| Q4 2006 | 11.313 | 8.234 | 0.604 | 0.821 | 0.767 | 0.482 | 0.406 |
| Q3 2006 | 11.111 | 8.045 | 0.603 | 0.821 | 0.754 | 0.447 | 0.442 |
| Q2 2006 | 10.747 | 7.760 | 0.590 | 0.796 | 0.739 | 0.439 | 0.423 |
| Q1 2006 | 10.382 | 7.436 | 0.582 | 0.788 | 0.723 | 0.435 | 0.418 |
| Q4 2005 | 10.002 | 7.102 | 0.565 | 0.792 | 0.736 | 0.392 | 0.416 |
| Q3 2005 | 9.792 | 6.906 | 0.541 | 0.830 | 0.732 | 0.378 | 0.405 |
| Q2 2005 | 9.492 | 6.696 | 0.528 | 0.774 | 0.717 | 0.374 | 0.402 |
| Q1 2005 | 9.207 | 6.512 | 0.502 | 0.725 | 0.710 | 0.364 | 0.394 |
| Q4 2004 | 9.042 | 6.360 | 0.468 | 0.728 | 0.717 | 0.346 | 0.423 |
| Q3 2004 | 8.833 | 6.210 | 0.426 | 0.751 | 0.706 | 0.330 | 0.410 |
| Q2 2004 | 8.460 | 5.967 | 0.367 | 0.743 | 0.697 | 0.263 | 0.423 |
| Q1 2004 | 8.289 | 5.840 | 0.328 | 0.720 | 0.695 | 0.260 | 0.447 |
| Q4 2003 | 8.066 | 5.660 | 0.302 | 0.704 | 0.698 | 0.253 | 0.449 |
| Q3 2003 | 7.555 | 5.183 | 0.269 | 0.684 | 0.693 | 0.249 | 0.477 |
| Q2 2003 | 7.384 | 5.080 | 0.260 | 0.622 | 0.693 | 0.243 | 0.486 |
| Q1 2003 | 7.231 | 4.942 | 0.242 | 0.641 | 0.688 | 0.241 | 0.478 |
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit (New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax). Not adjusted for inflation.
About these numbers
Who’s counted. The New York Fed counts people with a credit report, from a 5% random sample of everyone with a Social Security number and a credit report, usually ages 19 and older. The Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances interviews families every three years.
Two survey groups. Some survey figures count all families; others count only families with debt. The share that fell behind on any payment (19.6%) and the share paying more than 40% of income (8.6%) count all families. The shares two months behind, in the families-by-age table and the charts, count families with debt.
Debt against income. Our ratio divides the Federal Reserve’s figure for debt owed by households and nonprofit organizations by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ after-tax income at a yearly rate. The Board’s survey measures debt against income its own way, as total family debt over total family income, and by that measure it rose between 2022 and 2025.
Mortgage rates. FHFA’s figures cover first mortgages outstanding, from a 5% sample, weighted by the balance owed. The average is what borrowers pay on loans they already have, not today’s rate for a new one.
Mean and median. The mean is the total divided by the number of families. The median is the family in the middle. A few very large balances lift the mean; they don’t move the median.
Per adult by age. The New York Fed publishes debt by age only as totals. We divided each total by the Census Bureau’s count of adults that age on July 1, 2025. That count includes people with no credit report, so it differs from the New York Fed’s per-person figure.
Dollars. Survey figures are in 2025 dollars. New York Fed figures are in dollars of the time. Our inflation comparisons chain the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index from June to June.
Credit cards in two sources. The New York Fed counts the card balance lenders report, which includes new charges that will be paid in full before any interest is due. The Federal Reserve Board’s survey counts what’s left after the last payment. That’s why cards are a bigger share of dollars in one than the other.
Debt payments chart. The Board’s current method starts in 2005; earlier years used a different method and aren’t comparable.
Late debt. Shares of balances count dollars, not people. The share 90 days or more late now includes more old written-off debt than it used to.
Small groups. Survey figures for small groups (the lowest-income fifth, renters, one age band) carry more sampling error than the all-families figure. Trust the direction more than the decimal.
What each household debt measure counts
| Measure | What it counts | Who’s counted | Producer | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total household debt | Balances on mortgages, home equity lines, auto loans, credit cards, student loans and other loans | Everyone with an Equifax credit report, from a nationally representative sample | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | $18.77 trillion, Q2 2026 |
| Debt per person | Total household debt divided by the people in the credit-report sample | Everyone with a credit report, including people who owe nothing | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | $63,200, Q4 2025 |
| Families with any debt | Share of families owing anything | Families, from a survey every three years | Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances | 77.0%, 2025 |
| Median and mean debt of families with debt | The middle family’s debt, and the total divided by the number of families | Families with any debt | Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances | $88,100 and $179,100, 2025 |
| Debt at least 30 days late | Share of balances 30 days or more behind | Everyone with a credit report | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | 4.7%, Q2 2026 |
| Debt 90 days or more late | Share of balances 90 days or more behind, including charged-off debt lenders still report | Everyone with a credit report | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | 3.31%, Q2 2026 |
| Debt newly 30 days late | Share of current balances that slipped to 30 days or more behind, summed over the past four quarters | Everyone with a credit report | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | 5.0%, Q2 2026 |
| Debt payments as a share of income | Required mortgage and consumer loan payments divided by after-tax income | The whole country, added up | Federal Reserve Board | 11.1%, Q2 2026 |
| Mortgage payments as a share of income | Required mortgage payments divided by after-tax income | The whole country, added up | Federal Reserve Board | 5.8%, Q2 2026 |
| Families paying more than 40% of income on debt | Share of families whose debt payments exceed 40% of their income | All families, from a survey every three years | Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances | 8.6%, 2025 |
| Debt per adult by age | Each age group’s total debt divided by adults that age | Every adult, from Census estimates | Our calculation from New York Fed and U.S. Census Bureau figures | $116,000 for ages 40 to 49, Q2 2026 |
| Average credit card rate | Average interest rate across bank credit card accounts | Card accounts at reporting banks, including those that pay no interest | Federal Reserve (G.19) | 21.19%, Q3 2026 |
| Debt to after-tax income | Debt owed by households and nonprofits divided by a year’s after-tax income | All households and nonprofit organizations | Our calculation from Federal Reserve and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures | 89.2%, Q2 2026 |
| Families behind on a payment | Families that fell behind on any loan payment in the past year | All families (only those with debt can answer yes) | Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances | 19.6%, 2025 |
| Families two months behind | Families with debt with any payment 60 days or more late in the past year | Families with debt | Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer Finances | 10.7%, 2025 |
| Average mortgage rate | Average rate on first mortgages outstanding, weighted by balance | First mortgages outstanding | Federal Housing Finance Agency, National Mortgage Database | 4.5%, Q2 2026 |
| Expected chance of missing a payment | Average chance people give themselves of missing a minimum debt payment in the next three months | Household heads in a monthly survey | Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Survey of Consumer Expectations | 12.2%, September 2026 |
Questions about household debt
How much in debt is the average American?
The average American with a credit report owed $63,200 at the end of 2025, according to the New York Fed. About $44,300 of that is mortgages. The typical family with debt owed $88,100 in the Federal Reserve Board’s 2025 survey.
What percentage of Americans are debt free?
Nearly a quarter of families (23.0%) had no debt at all in 2025, the Federal Reserve Board found. It’s higher among older families: 47.8% of those headed by someone 75 or older owe nothing.
How much debt is normal at 30? At 50?
For families headed by someone under 35, the typical family with debt owed $52,000 in 2025. For ages 45 to 54 it was $160,600, and for 55 to 64, $101,200. Averages run higher, because a few big mortgages pull them up.
Are more Americans falling behind on their debt?
More families are. About one in five fell behind on a loan payment in the year before the Federal Reserve Board’s 2025 survey, up from about one in eight in 2022. Measured by dollars, the change is smaller: 4.7% of household debt was at least 30 days late in the second quarter of 2026, about the same as at the end of 2019.
Is $20,000 a lot of debt?
For a card balance, yes: the typical family with a card balance owed $3,100 in 2025. For a car loan, it’s a bit above the typical $17,000. For a student loan, it’s below the typical $25,600. Those are the Federal Reserve Board’s figures for families that have each kind of debt.
What is the average household debt without a mortgage?
About $18,900 per person with a credit report at the end of 2025, by our calculation from New York Fed figures: everything but first mortgages, including home equity lines. Mortgages are the other $44,300.
How much credit card debt does the average American have?
Families with a card balance owed a median of $3,100 in 2025, the Federal Reserve Board found. Nationally, card balances totaled $1.3 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, the New York Fed reported, including balances paid in full each month. More on our credit card default statistics page.
Why do sites give different numbers for average American debt?
They divide by different people. The New York Fed’s $63,200 spreads all debt across everyone with a credit report, including people who owe nothing. The Federal Reserve Board’s survey counts only families with debt, and reports both the typical family and the average.
What is the household debt-to-income ratio?
Nationally, household debt equals about 89.2% of a year’s after-tax income, by our calculation from Federal Reserve and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis figures for the second quarter of 2026. Payments took 11.1% of after-tax income in the same quarter. For one person, lenders’ debt-to-income ratio is monthly debt payments divided by monthly income before taxes.
Sources and method
We gather the data, run the numbers and research each page ourselves. The American Distress Index, which we publish, uses late-payment rates and the share of income going to debt payments, not the dollar total.
- Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, 2026:Q2 Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Total household debt and balances by type, every quarter since 2003; the share of debt 30 and 90 days late and newly late; debt by age group and by kind of debt within each age group (pages 20 and 21). Released August 11, 2026. The report’s page 1 explains the quarter’s mortgage drop. New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax. Press release The report
- State Level Household Debt Statistics Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Debt per person and the share of mortgage balances 90 days or more late, by state, at the end of 2019, 2024 and 2025. Published February 2026. New York Fed data bank
- How Distressed Are Consumers? Reconciling Diverging Credit Card Delinquency Measures Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Liberty Street Economics. Why the share of debt 90 days late runs high: lenders report charged-off debt for longer. Published August 11, 2026; the views are the authors’. Liberty Street Economics
- Federal Student Loan Defaults Return After Pandemic Pause Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Liberty Street Economics. Defaulted federal student loans and the collections pause. Published May 12, 2026. Liberty Street Economics
- Survey of Consumer Finances, 2025 Federal Reserve Board. Share of families with any debt; median and mean debt of families with debt, by age of the head of the family and by kind of debt (summary tables 11 and 13, 2025 dollars); the share of families with debt whose payments exceed 40% of income (press release, October 9, 2026); share of families behind on any loan payment and two months or more behind (report Table 5, all families); share of families with debt two months or more behind, by income, age and housing (summary table 18). Summary tables Press release
- Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022 Federal Reserve Board. Table 4: families holding each kind of debt, with the median and mean owed, in 2022 dollars; the share of families with any debt in 2019 and 2022. Federal Reserve Bulletin, October 2023. Federal Reserve Bulletin
- Household debt service ratio Federal Reserve Board. Required debt payments as a share of after-tax income, quarterly, shown from 2005, when the Board’s current method begins, retrieved via FRED: the Financial Accounts of the United States (BOGZ1FL010000346Q) through the first quarter of 2026, and the Board’s Household Debt Service Ratios release (TDSP) for the second quarter of 2026; mortgage payments from the same release (MDSP). Latest quarter (FRED) History (FRED) Mortgage payments (FRED)
- Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Used for our inflation-adjusted comparisons: 12-month changes chained June to June for the total, December to December for debt per person. BLS consumer price index
- Average American Debt by Age Experian. Experian’s own average from its credit files, June 2025, published November 19, 2025. Cited for comparison only. Experian
- Why Consumers and Economists See Different Economies (presentation slides) Joanne Hsu, University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, at a Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago event. The “one person one vote, versus one dollar one vote” framing. September 30, 2026. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
- Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking Federal Reserve Board. Adults with student loans for their own education who are behind or in collections, 2024. Federal Reserve Board
- Consumer Credit (G.19), interest rate on credit card plans Federal Reserve Board. Average rate across bank credit card accounts, quarterly, via FRED (TERMCBCCALLNS). FRED
- National population by single year of age, Vintage 2025 U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program. Adults in each age group on July 1, 2025, which we divide into the New York Fed’s debt totals by age to get debt per adult. Census Bureau population estimates
- Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025 Federal Reserve Board. Families behind on loan payments, 2013 to 2025 (Table 5). October 9, 2026. Federal Reserve Board
- Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 Federal Reserve Board. Card balance changes by financial well-being, matched to credit records (Box 1); buy now, pay later use and late payment (Table 41). May 13, 2026. Federal Reserve Board
- National Mortgage Database, outstanding residential mortgage statistics Federal Housing Finance Agency. Rate mix, fixed-rate share and average rate of outstanding first mortgages, weighted by balance, quarterly from 2013. FHFA
- Survey of Consumer Expectations Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Mean probability of missing a minimum debt payment in the next three months, monthly from June 2013, by age and income. New York Fed
- Household debt and disposable income Federal Reserve Board (Financial Accounts of the United States, Z.1) and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, via FRED. Debt securities and loans of households and nonprofit organizations (CMDEBT) divided by disposable personal income (DPI); our calculation. CMDEBT (FRED) DPI (FRED)
- Large Bank Consumer Credit Card Balances Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, via FRED. Share of accounts paying the full balance (RCCCBSHRFULL) and only the minimum (RCCCBSHRMIN), quarterly from 2012. FRED
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.