How many Americans have credit card debt?
A November 2023
If you look at all credit card accounts, the American Bankers Association data shows that 43% of accounts were active and carried a balance at some point in the third quarter of 2022, 34% of accounts were active but didn't carry a balance and 23% of accounts were dormant for the quarter.
That's up from 51 percent in 2023 and is the highest percentage since 2018. Additionally, 10 percent of Americans have no credit card debt or emergency savings at all, the lowest percentage in the poll's 14-year history: Note: Not all percentages total 100 due to rounding.
The average debt in America is $104,215 across mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and credit cards. Debt peaks between ages 40 and 49 among consumers with excellent credit scores. Washington has the highest average debt at $180,462, and West Virginia has the lowest at $64,320.
Around 23% of Americans are debt free, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve. That figure factors in every type of debt, from credit card balances and student loans to mortgages, car loans and more.
Running up $50,000 in credit card debt is not impossible. About two million Americans do it every year. Paying off that bill?
Anything over 30% credit utilization will decrease your credit score. So, you can use this as a measure of when you have too much debt. Consolidated Credit offers a free credit card debt worksheet that makes it easy to total up your current balances and total credit limit.
Fewer than half of Americans, 44%, say they can afford to pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, according to Bankrate's survey of more than 1,000 respondents conducted in December. That is up from 43% in 2023, yet level when compared to 2022.
How Paying Off Debt Can Affect Your Credit Score. Paying down credit card debt is likely to help your credit score because credit scores consider your credit utilization rate, or the amount of available credit you are using, and lower is better.
Average credit card debt by age in 2023 (USD)
18 to 29 year olds carry the least at $2900, while those in their forties carry the most at $7600.
What percentage of Americans are 100% debt free?
Fewer than one quarter of American households live debt-free. Learning ways to tackle debt can help you get a handle on your finances.
Credello: Studies show that Millennials often have debt. The average amount is almost $30K. Some have more, while others have less, but it's a sobering number. There are actions you can take if you're a Millennial and you're carrying this much debt.
Men have 20% more personal loan debt than women. Men have 16.3% more auto loan debt than women. Men have 9.7% more mortgage debt than women. Women have 2.7% more student loan debt than men.
Living on credit cards can't last forever, because eventually you'll reach the end of your credit line. Consider it a stop-gap measure, not a permanent plan. “In a lot of cases, you won't know how long your emergency will last,” says Nitzsche. “It could be a few months, it could be a year.
On average, Americans carry around $5,733 in credit card debt, according to TransUnion's latest report. But when you break it down by age, most carry more than that.
The average FICO credit score in the US is 718, according to the latest FICO data from April 2023. The average VantageScore is 701 as of January 2024. Credit scores, which are like a grade for your borrowing history, fall in the range of 300 to 850.
One in five (22%) have at least $10,000 to $20,000 worth of credit card debt. Of those, just over 5% have more than $30,000.
Credit card debt in America continues to shatter records. When the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its Household Debt and Credit Report for the second quarter of 2023, total credit card debt surpassed $1 trillion.
It will take 41 months to pay off $30,000 with payments of $1,000 per month, assuming the average credit card APR of around 18%. The time it takes to repay a balance depends on how often you make payments, how big your payments are and what the interest rate charged by the lender is.
Why do Americans have so much credit card debt?
Higher prices have largely caused consumers to spend down their savings and lean on credit cards to make ends meet. Now, young adults, who are also burdened by high levels of student loan debt, are increasingly falling behind on the payments, the New York Fed found.
It's a good idea to pay off your credit card balance in full whenever you're able. Carrying a monthly credit card balance can cost you in interest and increase your credit utilization rate, which is one factor used to calculate your credit scores.
The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals. Let's take a closer look at each category.
According to Credit Suisse wealth report 2021, there are slightly over 1.4 million Americans have a net worth of over 10 million USD.
GOBankingRates recently surveyed 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older to learn more about their banking practices and found that 36% have no more than $100 in their savings account. In a similar study conducted in late 2022, 33% of Americans responded they had $100 or less in savings.
