Seeking 2026 Financial Hardship Help

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Read our editorial guidelines here. Americans have a record quantity of credit card debt $1.252 trillion, to be exact. This charge card financial obligation data page tracks Americans' charge card utilize every month. We upgrade this page routinely, examining just how much financial obligation consumers hold, how often they bring balances from month to month, how frequently they pay their charge card expenses late and other crucial patterns.

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While credit card financial obligation tends to increase year over year, it typically falls from Q4 of one year to Q1 of the next. Even with this quarter's reduction, credit card balances have actually increased by $482 billion considering that Q1 2021, when credit card financial obligation bottomed out at $770 billion throughout the pandemic.

Americans' credit card financial obligation is $325 billion greater than the pre-pandemic record set in Q4 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (That's a 35% boost.) Credit card balances have historically rebounded after first-quarter declines, though future loaning trends will depend on elements consisting of interest rates, inflation and wider financial conditions.

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Credit card debt rose steadily up until the monetary crisis, then decreased from $866 billion in Q4 2008 to $660 billion in Q1 2013 before resuming its upward trajectory. Then, when the pandemic took hold in 2020, charge card balances plunged once again from $927 billion in Q4 2019 to $770 billion in Q1 2021.

Credit cardholders in Connecticut have the greatest average charge card debt of any state, according to LendingTree information, while those in Mississippi have the lowest. Source: LendingTree analysis of the anonymized credit reports of more than 400,000 LendingTree users in the 3rd quarter of 2025 and more than 410,000 in Q3 2024.

Joint accounts were divided in half to show shared duty between the account holders. LendingTree analysts examined anonymized credit report information from Q3 2025 for more than 400,000 LendingTree users to determine these averages and create a list of states with the most financial obligation. The analysis was also compared with Q3 2024 data from more than 410,000 reports.

Eleven states had average balances of at least $9,000. Connecticut leads at $9,778, ahead of New Jersey ($ 9,748) and Maryland ($ 9,630). The six states with the most affordable balances remain in the South. Mississippi's balance is $4,887, lower than Arkansas ($ 5,259) and West Virginia ($ 5,336). Washington has the fastest-growing card debt in the duration analyzed.

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3 other states saw double-digit increases, consisting of South Dakota (up 11.7%), Nebraska (up 11.3%) and Wisconsin (up 10.2%). Meanwhile, New Mexico saw the largest year-over-year decrease in debt, with its residents' financial obligation falling 10.3% from $6,543 to $5,871. In all, seven states saw credit card balances reduce in the past year.

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (45%) carried a balance on a charge card for a minimum of one month in the past year, according to a May 2026 Federal Reserve research study using 2025 data. Paying a charge card balance completely monthly is the most reliable way to avoid interest charges and keep financial obligation from accumulating.

For cards accumulating interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For new credit card provides, the average is 23.79%.

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Consumers opening a brand-new charge card account may deal with greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The current LendingTree information on charge card APRs shows that the typical APR with a new charge card offer is 23.79%, with the average card using an APR variety of 20.18% to 27.41%.

When the Fed raises or reduces rates, the majority of credit card APRs in the U.S.No matter when the Fed acts next, any movement is likely to be small, meaning credit card APRs would likely remain elevated by historical standards. Simply 2.92% of Americans' outstanding credit card balances were at least 30 days overdue in the very first quarter of 2026., the 30-day delinquency rate the share of exceptional credit card balances that were at least 30 days past due dipped to 2.92% in the very first quarter of 2026, the seventh straight quarterly reduction.