Average American Debt by Age, US State, Credit Score and Type in 2026

Total American Consumer Debt Rises to $18.57 Trillion

Affordability remains top of mind for many consumers, even as business commentary trumpets that some economic indicators are improving. Lower headline inflation numbers and somewhat lower mortgage rates are sending positive signals, though some economic metrics have been somewhat muddled by data collection changes at the Federal level.

These improvements are easily overshadowed by eye-watering price increases for infrequently purchased items with large price tags, some of which aren't easily captured by inflation statistics. So while the price of some items may be settling, more infrequent purchases—think large appliances, vehicles and residential property—are taking increasingly massive bites out of consumers' budget lines as unemployment ticks upward. Given this backdrop, it isn't surprising consumer confidence continued to decrease throughout the year.

So where can consumers try to regain some more secure footing? One way those with higher interest rate debts and a good credit history can do it is to negotiate rates. Unsecured consumer debt like credit cards and personal loans continue to grow sharply, despite many borrowers carrying balances assuming record high APRs on credit cards. Only retail cards, with their APRs often exceeding 30%, are showing meaningful declines in 2025. (That decline is no doubt encouraged by consumers increasingly using buy now, pay later plans to finance their retail purchases.)

We'll address each type of debt, including the marked shift toward refinancing- and consolidation-related debts like HELOCs and personal loans, in the sections below.

Total Debt Levels Show Slower Growth in Mortgage, Auto Debt

The total consumer debt balance increased to $18.57 trillion in 2025, up 3.5% from 2024's $17.95 trillion. One-time disruptions in how student loan debt is reported account for some of the increase; nonetheless every type of consumer debt except for retail credit cards showed an increase in levels last year.

Source: Experian data from September of each year
^*Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York data from September of each year

Auto loan debt balances are notable for their slower growth rates. It may be a product of drivers trading down from more expensive new cars and electric vehicles to used cars to create a more affordable transportation monthly payment. Nonetheless, even this shift can be costly in other ways, as used car financing is more expensive than new car financing: The average APR for new car financing in 2025 was 6.36%, while used car financing averaged 11.40%, according to Experian Automotive data from Q3 2025.

Total American Debt Balance by Type

Meanwhile, modest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, while slightly stimulative, haven't resulted in relief for those with existing debt. And in most cases, the decline in credit card APRs for most are close to imperceptible.

Mortgage Debt Increases Modestly

Even as home values flatten—and even decline in some markets—and mortgage rates creep ever lower, housing sales remain anemic. By extension, that also means fewer new mortgages being made by lenders to prospective homeowners. Remember affordability? Home purchases are Exhibit A in this regard. Monthly mortgage payments remain 50% higher than they were five years ago, attributable to the now familiar one-two punch of rising home costs and rising mortgage interest rates.

Meanwhile, as others are observing, mortgage delinquency rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels, as the last of the COVID-era financial safeguards around homeowner protections expired. The good news there, however, is that those pre-pandemic delinquency levels were at relatively subdued levels in 2019.

Learn more: Current Mortgage Rates: What Will You Pay?

Auto Loan Debt Resets as Drivers Recalibrate

The total amount owed on auto loans increased by a modest 1.3% to $1.56 trillion in 2025. Interest rates consumers pay on their car notes remain at levels similar to those observed in recent years, as nearly everything else in the auto market changed, sometimes dramatically. In no particular order:

• Shifting consumer preferences based on inventory/availability: As alluded to above, the $30,000 new car is increasingly an endangered species.
• New tariffs: These add several thousand dollars to new cars purchased in the U.S. Even those built stateside are affected as raw materials for manufacturing are imported.
• Fluctuating insurance rates: Rising labor and auto parts costs meant rising premiums for many drivers (fortunately this uptrend appears to be finally subsiding).

Learn more: Americans' Purchasing Power Reflected in Higher-Dollar Auto Loans

Credit Card Balance Revolvers Continue to Feel the APRs in 2025

Credit card balances continued to grow more than most other forms of consumer debt in 2025, swelling to $1.23 trillion in 2025. Record-high APRs undoubtedly played a role, although consumers may see some slight relief in 2026 as recent Fed rate cuts are reflected in credit card rates.

Retail credit cards, on the other hand, saw a meaningful reduction of 6.1% to $119.6 billion in total balances.

Personal Loan Debt Levels Up As Borrowers Pursue Lower Costs

Personal loan balances grew 7.6% in 2025, totalling $597.6 billion in 2025. More than 66 million consumers have a personal loan in their credit history, according to Experian data, as consumers increasingly seek loans, especially online, to pay off more expensive variable-rate credit card debt, as well as fund major purchases and emergency expenses.

Source: Experian data from September of each year

Total HELOC Balances up 8.7%

Homeowners with meaningful home equity continued to tap HELOCs in 2025. A long dormant category, home equity loans began to catch consumers' (and lenders') attention a few years ago as home prices appreciated. Now, with HELOC rates falling, more homeowners are obtaining them. Rates of 8% to 9% on HELOCs even beat personal loan rates averaging around 12%, and are a downright steal compared to credit card rates the latest Fed average puts at 22.3%. Nonetheless, $391 billion is barely 2% of the $12 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt.

Student Loan Debt Up Amid Transitions

Ongoing changes in federal student loan debt repayment plans since the start of the pandemic in 2020 continue into 2026. Changes to income-based repayment plans (on top of the student loan onramp that ended in 2025) put reported student loan debt data in flux for now. Although some federal student loans have been cancelled, borrowers still collectively owe $1.65 trillion in student loan debt, which is increasing at an annual rate of 2.5%.

Total American Debt Balance by Age

In what is becoming a familiar refrain, younger consumers are assuming more of the consumer debt burden as the 2020s rolls on. Consumers ages 18 to 60, which includes the prime working age population of 25- to 54-year-olds, account for two-thirds of the total personal debt in the economy. Debts for millennials and Generation Z consumers are increasing at double-digit annual rates.

Source: Experian data from September of each year; ages as of 2025

Meanwhile, baby boomers now have the majority (51%) of the nation's wealth in 2025 despite, or perhaps because of, having less than 25% of the nation's debts.

Average American Consumer Debt Balance Climbs Slightly

Among all consumers, the average total debt burden was $105,444 in September 2025, a slight increase from 2024. Excluding mortgage debt, the average debt balance fell 3.3% in 2025 to $21,603.

Note: Average personal loan balance includes both unsecured and secured loans
Source: Experian data from September of each year

Despite the increases in many consumer debt categories in 2025, most consumers don't carry every type of debt and therefore haven't uniformly been affected by these shifts. Nonetheless, the leveling off of all types of debt seems to at least indicate that the consumers' ability and or willingness to assume additional debt is slowing, at least in the aggregate. On the other hand, for most cohorts (baby boomers seem to be the exception) reducing debt levels isn't occurring either, which is why affordability is an early word of the year candidate in 2026.

Average Debt Balance by Generation

Generation X once again led all other generations in having the highest average auto loan, credit card and total non-mortgage balances. Differences are most stark among credit card balances—Gen X have at least 24% more credit card debt than millennials, and 35% more than baby boomers.

Source: Experian data from September of each year
Note: Bolded text indicates highest balance in each respective category

Car loan balances are more homogenous. Even Gen Zers, who are still early in their careers and generally earning less than their parents and grandparents, have similar balances than older generations if they are borrowing to pay for their vehicle.

Overall Average Debt Balances Among the States

Average total debt balances among U.S. consumers vary among the states, which is largely a function of local home prices. Higher home values mean more expensive mortgages.

Average Consumer Debt Total by State

There were declines of 1% in a few states, scattered across the U.S., but most states saw a modest increase in debt levels not exceeding 1%. Exceptions were Idaho, which saw debt levels rise 2.3%—again, think rising mortgage balances in that newly popular and populous state.

Average Debt Changes Vary by Credit Score

Meanwhile, those with good or better credit scores were better able to stabilize their debt increases in 2025. This suggests that, although they have larger average debt amounts, they were more likely to obtain favorable rates on new debt. In turn, that meant their balances grew more slowly than those with lower scores and higher rates.

Source: Experian data from September of each year

Outlook for Consumer Borrowing in 2026

The year ahead will increasingly be redefined by the consumer goods basket and what fits inside of it. But that's just a longer way of saying the buzzword du jour: Affordability.

There's already evidence of discretionary income choices being impacted—look no further than your closest fast food restaurant. According to the Bank of America Institute, everyone, excepting baby boomers and those in the top 5% of income, dined out less in 2025 than in 2024. Meanwhile, spending on vacation-related purchases like airline travel, hotels and car rentals, declined among these same groups last year. (Although, treat spending on items like movies were up.)

Where things become more dicey comes where consumers have less choice, or less perceived choice, in spending. Think of items like home utility costs, car insurance premiums and groceries, where consumers have less choice in how much they spend—what's known as demand inelasticity. Consumers are catching few breaks when it comes to the costs of more essential consumer goods.

The recent pivot to refinancing some type of debt is likely a reaction to many of these intractable price increases in household budgets—consumers are responding to some price rises by finding savings where they can. For some that's tapping home equity, and for others it's by employing lower-interest personal loans. A third approach, perhaps surprisingly, is by finding ways to reduce car insurance premiums.

For consumers to get the best rates on new debt, or indeed an offer at all in some cases, it pays to protect and improve one's credit score where possible, as better scores result in better offers for personal loans, home equity loans and car insurance premiums in most states.