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By Scot Finnie | American Express Credit Intel Freelance Contributor
4 Min Read | January 31, 2020 in Money
Average U.S. credit card debt ranges from $5,500 to $6,000 per person, depending on whose stats you quote.
Millennials’ average credit card debt is lower than that overall, but increases with age.
Total household debt (including credit cards) rose to a new record in each of the past 20 quarters—that’s five years straight.
What is the average credit card debt in the U.S.? It depends on who you talk to and when you ask—it's a moving target. Here are some recent numbers that we pinned down for the average U.S. credit card debt per person:
What’s simple and clear about average U.S. credit card debt from these numbers is that, in early 2019, its approximate range is from $5,500 to $6,200 per person. If you shift to look at average household credit card debt, where there's a potential for two or more incomes and multiple people spending, estimates rise. One recent analysis pegged household average credit card debt at $8,701 for the third quarter of 2019.4
It’s also worth noting that not everyone included in those averages is actually paying interest on that debt. That’s because the data is a snapshot in time that includes the people who pay their credit card bills in full by the due date each month, and who therefore don’t pay interest charges.
Meanwhile, millennials across the U.S. carry average credit card debt of $4,712, according to Experian.5 Among millennials, however, credit card debt increases sharply with age:
That's considerably higher than the average across all demographics. Generationally speaking, Experian found another notably high average credit card debt number for Generation X (born between baby boomers and millennials): $8,023.
Beyond these averages, it’s also clear that total credit card use is on the rise. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that aggregate credit card debt in the U.S. totaled $868 billion for the quarter ending with June 2019.6 That's up $20 billion over the first quarter of 2019 and almost $40 billion over the second quarter of 2018. Separately, the Federal Reserve Board reported that revolving credit, which is mostly credit card debt, rose 6.3% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2019, when it stood near $1.1 trillion.7
Looking at households, the Fed has reported 20 consecutive quarters in which total household debt increased. For the second quarter of 2019, total household debt (including credit cards, home mortgages, home equity loans, student loans, auto loans, and other types of debt) rose from $192 billion to $13.86 trillion.
Again, it’s important to note that not all of that $1 trillion in credit card debt is interest-bearing. A recent survey found that 55% of Americans carry at least some credit card balance from month to month, and therefore incur interest-bearing debt.8 Other surveys peg the number lower—the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, for example, found that two out of five Americans (approximately 40%) pay interest on their credit card balances month-to-month.9 The average interest rate for credit card accounts that are assessed interest is slightly over 17%, according to the Fed.10
One analysis of 2019 data estimated that households with credit card debt paid an average of $1,162 in interest on that debt last year.11
Average credit card debt in the U.S. on a per-person basis is in the neighborhood of $5,500 to $6,200. Aggregate household debt and revolving charge debt—mostly credit cards—rose to a new record in the latter part of 2018 and continued to rise in 2019. It's apparent that U.S. consumers very much like the convenience that credit cards provide.
1 The Consumer Credit Card Market, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
2 "Consumer Credit Origination, Balance, and Delinquency Trends: Q1 2019," TransUnion
3 "A Look at U.S. Consumer Credit Card Debt," Experian Information Solutions
4 “CreditCard Debt Study: Trends & Insights,” WalletHub
5 “Millennials Carry Lower Than Average Credit Card Debt, but It’s Growing Quickly,” Experian
6 "Total Household Debt Climbs for 20th Straight Quarter as Mortage Debt and Originations Rise," Federal Reserve Bank of New York
7 "Consumer Credit – G.19," the Federal Reserve
8 "55 Percent of U.S. Adults Holding Credit Cards Report Having Debt," CNBC Make It
9 "2019 Road Map of Consumer Financial Health," National Foundation For Credit Counseling
10 "Consumer Credit – G.19," the Federal Reserve
11 "2019 American Household Credit Card Debt Study," NerdWallet.com
The material made available for you on this website, Credit Intel, is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, tax or financial advice. If you have questions, please consult your own professional legal, tax and financial advisors.