Expert Analysis of Debt Relief Trends

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

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

Americans' credit card financial obligation is $325 billion higher than the pre-pandemic record set in Q4 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (That's a 35% boost.) Credit card balances have traditionally rebounded after first-quarter decreases, though future borrowing patterns will depend upon factors including rates of interest, inflation and broader financial conditions.

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Charge card financial obligation rose gradually until the monetary crisis, then decreased from $866 billion in Q4 2008 to $660 billion in Q1 2013 before resuming its upward trajectory. When the pandemic took hold in 2020, credit card balances plunged once again from $927 billion in Q4 2019 to $770 billion in Q1 2021.

Credit cardholders in Connecticut have the highest typical credit card financial obligation 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 3rd quarter of 2025 and more than 410,000 in Q3 2024.

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

Eleven states had typical 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 period evaluated.

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Three other states saw double-digit boosts, consisting of South Dakota (up 11.7%), Nebraska (up 11.3%) and Wisconsin (up 10.2%). New Mexico saw the biggest year-over-year decrease in financial obligation, with its locals' debt falling 10.3% from $6,543 to $5,871. In all, seven states saw charge card balances decrease in the previous year.

Less 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 study using 2025 information. Paying a credit card balance completely monthly is the most efficient way to avoid interest charges and keep financial obligation from collecting.

For cards accruing interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For brand-new credit card uses, the average is 23.79%.

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Customers opening a brand-new charge card account might deal with greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The current LendingTree information on credit card APRs shows that the typical APR with a brand-new charge card deal is 23.79%, with the typical card offering an APR series of 20.18% to 27.41%.

The 23.79% average was unchanged for the second straight month and third in 4. It's the first time because LendingTree began tracking card rates monthly that they went the same in back-to-back months. That stability is likely the result of the Fed leaving rates unchanged throughout 2026. When the Fed raises or reduces rates, a lot of charge card APRs in the U.S.No matter when the Fed acts next, any motion is likely to be small, indicating credit card APRs would likely stay elevated by historic requirements. And as the chart listed below shows, APRs can differ significantly by card type. Source: LendingTree review of publicly available terms for about 220 U.S.Of course, your best relocation is to make those rate of interest a moot point by paying your card debt in full, however that's often easier stated than done. Just 2.92% of Americans' exceptional charge card balances were at least 30 days delinquent in the first quarter of 2026. According to the latest delinquency data from the Fed, the 30-day delinquency rate the share of impressive charge card balances that were at least thirty days past due dipped to 2.92% in the very first quarter of 2026, the seventh straight quarterly decline.