Seeking 2026 Financial Hardship Relief

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Read our editorial guidelines here. Americans have a record amount of charge card financial obligation $1.252 trillion, to be precise. This credit card debt data page tracks Americans' charge card use each month. We update this page regularly, examining how much debt customers hold, how typically they bring balances from month to month, how frequently they pay their charge card expenses late and other crucial trends.

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While credit card financial obligation tends to rise year over year, it normally falls from Q4 of one year to Q1 of the next. Even with this quarter's decline, credit card balances have actually risen by $482 billion since Q1 2021, when credit card debt bottomed out at $770 billion throughout the pandemic.

Americans' charge card debt is $325 billion greater than the pre-pandemic record set in Q4 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (That's a 35% increase.) Credit card balances have traditionally rebounded after first-quarter declines, though future loaning trends will depend upon aspects including rate of interest, inflation and broader economic conditions.

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Credit card debt increased gradually 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, credit card balances plunged again from $927 billion in Q4 2019 to $770 billion in Q1 2021.

Credit cardholders in Connecticut have the highest typical credit card debt of any state, according to LendingTree information, while those in Mississippi have the most affordable. Source: LendingTree analysis of the anonymized credit reports of more than 400,000 LendingTree users in the third 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 reviewed anonymized credit report data from Q3 2025 for more than 400,000 LendingTree users to calculate these averages and develop a list of states with the most financial obligation. The analysis was likewise compared with Q3 2024 information 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 6 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 examined.

Essential Debt Consolidation Reviews for 2026

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

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (45%) brought a balance on a charge card for at least one month in the previous year, according to a May 2026 Federal Reserve research study utilizing 2025 data. Paying a credit card balance completely every month is the most efficient way to avoid interest charges and keep financial obligation from building up.

For all charge card, the typical APR in Q2 2026 was 20.94%. For cards accumulating interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For new credit card uses, the average is 23.79%. Typical APR, existing card accounts: 20.94% Average APR, accounts that accrue interest: 22.15% Typical APR, brand-new charge card offers: 23.79% The Federal Reserve's G. 19 consumer credit report showed that the average APRs for cards accumulating interest rose to 22.15% in Q2 2026, up from 21.52% in Q1 2026.

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Consumers opening a new charge card account might face greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The most recent LendingTree data on credit card APRs shows that the average APR with a new credit card deal is 23.79%, with the typical card offering an APR range of 20.18% to 27.41%.

When the Fed raises or decreases 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. Just 2.92% of Americans' exceptional credit card balances were at least 30 days delinquent in the first quarter of 2026., the 30-day delinquency rate the share of outstanding credit card balances that were at least 30 days past due dipped to 2.92% in the first quarter of 2026, the seventh straight quarterly decrease.