According to data compiled by TransUnion, the average credit card debt for Americans was an estimated $6,329 through the second quarter of 2024. This was an increase of about 6% from the roughly $5,090 average credit card balance Americans had at the same time in 2023.
There isn't a specific amount of credit card debt that's considered too much. Instead, it depends on your individual financial situation and how you're using your credit cards. U.S. consumers had an average total credit card balance of $6,501 as of the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, a 10% increase from the previous year.
Running up $50,000 in credit card debt is not impossible. About two million Americans do it every year.
High-interest credit card debt can devastate even the most thought-out financial plan. U.S. consumers carry $6,501 in credit card debt on average, according to Experian data, but if your balance is much higher—say, $20,000 or beyond—you may feel hopeless.
But ideally you should never spend more than 10% of your take-home pay towards credit card debt. So, for example, if you take home $2,500 a month, you should never pay more than $250 a month towards your credit card bills.
Here's the average debt balances by age group: Gen Z (ages 18 to 23): $9,593. Millennials (ages 24 to 39): $78,396. Gen X (ages 40 to 55): $135,841.
So, for the purposes of the study, Bank of America set a threshold — households spending at least 90% of their income on necessities could be considered living paycheck to paycheck. By that measure, around 30% of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, according to Bank of America's internal data.
The average FICO credit score in the US is 717, according to the latest FICO data. The average VantageScore is 701 as of January 2024.
Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt obligations compared to your gross monthly income (before taxes), expressed as a percentage. A good debt-to-income ratio is less than or equal to 36%. Any debt-to-income ratio above 43% is considered to be too much debt.
On average, Americans carry $6,194 in credit card debt, according to the 2019 Experian Consumer Credit Review. And Alaskans have the highest credit card balance, on average $8,026.
Gen X (ages 43 to 58) not only carries the most debt on average of all the generations, but is also the debt leader in credit card and total non-mortgage debt.
The above chart shows that U.S. residents under 35 have an average of $49,130 in retirement savings; those 35 to 44 have an average $141,520; those 45 to 54 have an average $313,220; those 55 to 64 have an average $537,560; those 65 to 74 have an average $609,230; and those 75 or older have an average $462,410.
A single credit card can have a credit limit of anywhere from $500 to $10,000, depending on various factors like the type of card, your credit score and more. According to Experian™, one of the three main credit bureaus, the average total credit limit across multiple cards was about $30,000 in 2021.
Only 18% of individual Americans make more than $100,000 a year, according to 2023 data from careers website Zippia. About 34% of U.S. households earn more than $100,000 a year, according to Zippia.
One reason the authors of the analysis offer in their report is that “higher-income households may have bought larger, more expensive, homes and consequently have bigger mortgages. And often along with bigger homes come bigger insurance costs, property taxes and utility bills.”
The Standard Route is what credit companies and lenders recommend. If this is the graduate's choice, he or she will be debt free around the age of 58. It will take a total of 36 years to complete. It's a whole lot of time but it's the standard for a lot of people.
Net worth is the difference between the values of your assets and liabilities. The average American net worth is $1,063,700, as of 2022. Net worth averages increase with age from $183,500 for those 35 and under to $1,794,600 for those 65 to 74. Net worth, however, tends to drop for those 75 and older.
The Gen X debt situation
The cohort also has the largest share of people with debt, nearly 99% carry some type of balance, LendingTree found. Gen Xers led the way in three of the four categories analyzed. The group — between 44 and 59 years old — has the highest median credit card, auto loan and student loan balances.
Carrying the burden of debt is the way of life for many. According to Experian, as of the third quarter of 2023, the average American held $104,215 in debt. You're probably very familiar with the negative side effects of debt and how hard paying it down can be, but do you know that by age 45, you should be debt free?