Overall, the average millennial carries about $28,317 in debt, not including mortgages, according to Experian's 2021 State of Credit report, which classifies millennials as those born between 1982 and 1995. When including mortgages, millennials' total debt averages $255,527 per person.
Generation X
This generation is not only saddled with the highest mortgage debt of all the age groups but they also owe the most debt. In a recent study by Go Banking Rates, they found that 46% of this generation carries credit balances with an average of $4000 or more.
Key findings
Just 13% of millennial credit cardholders are debt-free, slightly higher than the 11% of Gen Xers who said the same, but far less than the 29% of baby boomers without any debt. 67% of millennials report having credit card debt, while just 36% face student loan debt.
US student loan debt averaged about $28,400 in 2020, according to CollegeBoard data, but millennials averaged even more — around $38,877 — according to an Experian consumer debt study.
The average millennial has over $4,000 in credit card debt—other generations have more.
Despite their good money habits, the typical Gen Zer drove debt growth during the pandemic. They owe $16,043 on average. Gen Z had the most debt growth of any generation between 2019 and 2020, with the average balance increasing by 67.2% from $9,593, according to the Experian report.
Another source of increased student debt is higher college attendance. Since 2000, undergraduate enrollment has increased by more than 3.5 million students. 95 More people are getting graduate degrees too. 96 For many, borrowing money to pay for training and education can yield returns over a lifetime.
Likewise, millennial consumers (ages 25 to 40) have an average of $27,251 in non-mortgage debt, presumably across credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and student loans.
How much money does the average American owe? According to a 2020 Experian study, the average American carries $92,727 in consumer debt. Consumer debt includes a variety of personal credit accounts, such as credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, personal loans, and student loans.
Millennials (ages 25 to 40) have an average of $51,300 in personal savings, while their retirement accounts have an average balance of $63,300. That's according to Northwestern Mutual's 2021 Planning & Progress Study, which surveyed more than 2,000 American adults.
Of the Millennials who are actively saving, 39% set aside up to 9% of their income for retirement—$5,000 of the average annual Millennial household income of $55,200. Thirty years of investing at that rate would result in approximately $600,000 in retirement savings.
The average Millennial salary is about $47,034, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The average Millennial household makes $69,000 a year, according to the Pew Research Center.
But increasingly America's millennials are being defined by debt. Since they are now the country's largest generation—83.1 million people, according to the US Census Bureau—the millennial debt crisis is a national issue. Millennials are the most indebted generation in history.
In February, a Bankrate survey observed that 54% of younger millennials and 46% of Gen Z respondents said their emergency savings had declined since 2020. The survey also revealed that millennials were more likely than other generations to have higher credit card debts than savings balances.
Kevin O'Leary, an investor on “Shark Tank” and personal finance author, said in 2018 that the ideal age to be debt-free is 45. It's at this age, said O'Leary, that you enter the last half of your career and should therefore ramp up your retirement savings in order to ensure a comfortable life in your elderly years.
About 52% of Americans owe $2,500 or less on their credit cards. If you're looking at $5,000 or higher, you should really get motivated to knock out that debt quickly.
And yet, over half of Americans surveyed (53%) say that debt reduction is a top priority—while nearly a quarter (23%) say they have no debt. And that percentage may rise.
On average, Americans carry $5,315 in credit card debt, but if your balance is much higher—say, $20,000 or beyond—you may be feeling hopeless. Paying off a high credit card balance can be a daunting task, but it's possible.
Saving 15% of income per year (including any employer contributions) is an appropriate savings level for many people. Having one to one-and-a-half times your income saved for retirement by age 35 is an attainable target for someone who starts saving at age 25.
Net Worth at Age 30
By age 30 your goal is to have an amount equal to half your salary stored in your retirement account. If you're making $60,000 in your 20s, strive for a $30,000 net worth by age 30. That milestone is possible through saving and investing.
Boomers are most burdened by credit-card debt, which an average of 81.4% of boomer consumers are dealing with. That's more than any other generation, and they also carry the highest overall median balance of $3,958.
Millennials' wealth more than doubled to over $9 trillion since the pandemic began, but Baby Boomers are still worth almost 8 times as much.
But despite their higher earnings, millennials still hold less wealth than previous generations did at their age. When boomers were roughly the same age as millennials are now, they owned about 21% of America's wealth, compared to millennials' 5% share today, according to recent Fed data.