Assistance for Struggling Consumers in 2026

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Americans have a record amount of credit card financial obligation $1.252 trillion, to be precise. This credit card financial obligation data page tracks Americans' credit card use each month.

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While credit card debt tends to rise year over year, it typically falls from Q4 of one year to Q1 of the next. The last time we saw card financial obligation increase in Q1 remained in 2001. (The only time it didn't fall in Q1 ever since was 2023, when it stayed unchanged.) Even with this quarter's decline, credit card balances have increased by $482 billion because Q1 2021, when credit card debt bottomed out at $770 billion during the pandemic.

Americans' credit card financial obligation is $325 billion greater than the pre-pandemic record embeded in Q4 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (That's a 35% boost.) Charge card balances have actually historically rebounded after first-quarter declines, though future loaning trends will depend upon elements consisting of interest rates, inflation and wider financial conditions.

Smart Financial Management for Struggling Families

Charge card financial obligation increased gradually till the monetary crisis, then decreased 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, charge card balances plunged again from $927 billion in Q4 2019 to $770 billion in Q1 2021.

Credit cardholders in Connecticut have the greatest typical credit card financial obligation of any state, according to LendingTree data, 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 third quarter of 2025 and more than 410,000 in Q3 2024.

Joint accounts were divided in half to reflect shared obligation between the account holders. LendingTree analysts reviewed 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 debt. 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 financial obligation in the period examined.

Can Debt Relief Help Your Credit Future?

3 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 reduction in financial obligation, with its residents' debt falling 10.3% from $6,543 to $5,871. In all, seven states saw charge card balances reduce in the previous year.

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (45%) carried a balance on a credit 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 in full every month is the most effective method to avoid interest charges and keep financial obligation from building up.

For all charge card, the average APR in Q2 2026 was 20.94%. For cards accruing interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For brand-new credit card uses, the average is 23.79%. Typical APR, current card accounts: 20.94% Typical APR, accounts that accrue interest: 22.15% Average APR, brand-new charge card uses: 23.79% The Federal Reserve's G. 19 consumer credit report showed that the average APRs for cards accumulating interest increased to 22.15% in Q2 2026, up from 21.52% in Q1 2026.

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Customers opening a brand-new credit card account might deal with greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The newest LendingTree data on credit card APRs reveals that the average APR with a new credit card deal is 23.79%, with the typical card using an APR series of 20.18% to 27.41%.

When the Fed raises or decreases rates, the majority of credit card APRs in the U.S.No matter when the Fed acts next, any movement is likely to be small, meaning credit card APRs would likely remain elevated by historical standards. Just 2.92% of Americans' exceptional credit card balances were at least 30 days delinquent in the first quarter of 2026., the 30-day delinquency rate the share of impressive credit card balances that were at least 30 days past due dipped to 2.92% in the very first quarter of 2026, the seventh straight quarterly reduction.