Expert 2026 Debt Relief Solutions for Families

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Read our editorial standards here. Americans have a record amount of charge card debt $1.252 trillion, to be exact. This charge card debt data page tracks Americans' credit card use every month. We update this page routinely, taking a look at how much financial obligation customers hold, how often they carry balances from month to month, how often they pay their charge card expenses late and other key patterns.

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

Americans' charge 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.) Charge card balances have historically rebounded after first-quarter declines, though future loaning patterns will depend on aspects consisting of rate of interest, inflation and wider economic conditions.

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Credit card financial obligation increased gradually until the financial crisis, then declined 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 greatest average credit card financial obligation of any state, according to LendingTree data, while those in Mississippi have the least expensive. 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 reflect shared obligation in 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 to Q3 2024 data from more than 410,000 reports.

Eleven states had average balances of at least $9,000. Washington has the fastest-growing card debt in the duration examined.

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Three other states saw double-digit boosts, including South Dakota (up 11.7%), Nebraska (up 11.3%) and Wisconsin (up 10.2%). New Mexico saw the biggest year-over-year decrease in debt, with its homeowners' financial obligation falling 10.3% from $6,543 to $5,871. In all, 7 states saw credit card balances reduce in the previous year.

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (45%) carried a balance on a charge card for at least one month in the past year, according to a May 2026 Federal Reserve research study using 2025 information. Paying a charge card balance completely each month is the most effective method to avoid interest charges and keep debt from collecting.

For all credit cards, the average APR in Q2 2026 was 20.94%. For cards accumulating interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For brand-new credit card uses, the average is 23.79%. Typical APR, present card accounts: 20.94% Average APR, accounts that accumulate interest: 22.15% Typical APR, new credit card provides: 23.79% The Federal Reserve's G. 19 customer credit report revealed that the typical APRs for cards accruing interest rose to 22.15% in Q2 2026, up from 21.52% in Q1 2026.

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Consumers opening a new credit card account may face greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The current LendingTree information on credit card APRs reveals that the typical APR with a new credit card deal is 23.79%, with the typical card providing an APR range of 20.18% to 27.41%.

The 23.79% average was unchanged for the 2nd straight month and 3rd in four. It's the very first time considering that LendingTree started tracking card rates monthly that they went the same in back-to-back months. That stability is most likely the outcome of the Fed leaving rates the same throughout 2026. When the Fed raises or decreases rates, most charge card APRs in the U.S.Anytime the Fed acts next, any motion is most likely to be small, implying charge card APRs would likely remain raised by historical standards. And as the chart listed below shows, APRs can vary substantially by card type. Source: LendingTree review of openly offered terms for about 220 U.S.Obviously, your best move is to make those rates of interest a moot point by paying your card debt completely, however that's frequently simpler said than done. Just 2.92% of Americans' outstanding credit card balances were at least 30 days delinquent in the very first quarter of 2026. According to the most current delinquency data from the Fed, the 30-day delinquency rate the share of outstanding credit card balances that were at least one month unpaid dipped to 2.92% in the first quarter of 2026, the seventh straight quarterly decrease.