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LendingTree is compensated by companies on this site and this compensation may impact how and where offers appear on this site (such as the order). LendingTree does not include all lenders, savings products, or loan options available in the marketplace.
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Advertising Disclosure

LendingTree is an advertising-supported comparison service. The site features products from our partners as well as institutions which are not advertising partners. While we make an effort to include the best deals available to the general public, we make no warranty that such information represents all available products. We are compensated by companies on this site and this compensation may impact how and where offers appear on this site (such as the order).

2024 Credit Card Debt Statistics

Updated on:
Content was accurate at the time of publication.
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Americans have an absolute mountain of credit card debt — $1.166 trillion, to be exact.

This credit card debt statistics page tracks Americans’ credit card use each month. We update this page regularly, looking at how much debt people have, how often they carry a balance month to month, how often they pay their credit card bills late and more.

Americans’ total credit card balance is $1.166 trillion in the third quarter of 2024, according to the latest consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s up from $1.142 trillion in the second quarter of 2024 and is the highest balance since the New York Fed began tracking in 1999.

This is the ninth time in the past 10 quarters in which credit card debt hasn’t decreased. The only decrease during that period was in the first quarter of 2024. However, it isn’t unusual for credit card debt to dip in the first quarter. That’s happened in all but three years — 2000, 2001 and 2023 — since the report began in 1999. A decrease in the third quarter would have been far more surprising. The last time that happened was in 2020, during some of the darkest days of the pandemic. Before that, it hadn’t happened since 2011.

Credit card balances have risen by $396 billion since the first quarter of 2021, when credit card debt bottomed out at $770 billion during the pandemic. That’s a 51% increase in three-and-a-half years. Americans’ credit card debt is $239 billion higher than the pre-pandemic record set in the fourth quarter of 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (A 26% increase.) However, thanks to still-sky-high interest rates, stubborn inflation and myriad other economic factors, credit card balances are likely only going to climb.

These record balances are light years above the $478 billion seen more than 20 years ago in the first quarter of 1999.

Credit card debt has grown massively since 1999 to today's all-time record highs.

Card debt showed hockey-stick growth until the financial collapse in 2008, when balances fell from $866 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 to $660 billion in the first quarter of 2013. But, as you can see in the chart below, the hockey stick returned.

Then, when the pandemic took hold in 2020, credit card balances plunged again — from $927 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $770 billion in the first quarter of 2021. But — again — the hockey stick returned, thanks to a massive spike in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Despite falling during the Great Recession and pandemic, credit card debt is at an all-time high today.

Credit cardholders in Connecticut have the highest average credit card debt of any state, according to LendingTree data, while those in Mississippi have the lowest.

RankStateAverage credit card debt, Q2 2024Average credit card debt, Q3 2024% difference, Q2 2024 to Q3 2024
1Connecticut$8,835$9,3235.5%
2District of Columbia$8,707$9,2095.8%
3California$8,980$9,1912.3%
4New Jersey$9,229$9,112-1.3%
5Florida$8,841$9,0942.9%
6Alaska$8,795$9,0402.8%
7Maryland$9,076$8,830-2.7%
8New York$8,506$8,8103.6%
9Hawaii$8,535$8,7983.1%
10Massachusetts$8,556$8,6851.5%
11Colorado$8,128$8,3713.0%
12Texas$8,009$8,3163.8%
13New Hampshire$7,606$8,2178.0%
14Nevada$7,941$8,1863.1%
15Virginia$7,878$8,1363.3%
16Washington$7,800$8,0863.7%
17Rhode Island$7,815$8,0693.3%
18Georgia$7,849$7,9251.0%
19Illinois$7,876$7,846-0.4%
20Arizona$7,653$7,8422.5%
21Delaware$7,660$7,598-0.8%
22Vermont$7,295$7,4782.5%
23Utah$7,372$7,290-1.1%
24Oregon$7,224$7,204-0.3%
25Montana$6,875$7,1063.4%
26Maine$7,187$7,026-2.2%
27Pennsylvania$7,228$6,992-3.3%
28North Carolina$6,707$6,9403.5%
29Wyoming$6,312$6,8738.9%
30Minnesota$6,769$6,8200.8%
31Kansas$6,297$6,8188.3%
32Idaho$6,620$6,6941.1%
33South Carolina$6,683$6,615-1.0%
34New Mexico$6,455$6,5431.4%
35South Dakota$6,625$6,465-2.4%
36North Dakota$6,260$6,4372.8%
37Nebraska$6,533$6,355-2.7%
38Michigan$6,366$6,318-0.8%
39Ohio$6,160$6,3002.3%
40Wisconsin$5,865$6,0823.7%
41Missouri$5,898$6,0692.9%
42Iowa$5,968$6,0641.6%
43Oklahoma$6,084$6,004-1.3%
44Indiana$5,853$5,8760.4%
45Alabama$5,606$5,7652.8%
46Tennessee$5,791$5,727-1.1%
47Louisiana$5,610$5,529-1.4%
48West Virginia$5,644$5,497-2.6%
49Arkansas$5,376$5,305-1.3%
50Kentucky$5,425$5,266-2.9%
51Mississippi$5,265$4,918-6.6%
Average$7,130$7,2361.4%

Source: LendingTree analysis of the anonymized credit reports of more than 380,000 LendingTree users in the second quarter of 2024 and more than 410,000 in the third quarter of 2023. Note: The rank is based on the average credit card debt in Q3 2024.

LendingTree analysts reviewed anonymized credit report data from the third quarter of 2024 for more than 410,000 LendingTree users to calculate these averages and create a list of states with the most debt. We also compared that data to what we found in our second-quarter analysis of more than 380,000 reports.

Overall, the national average card debt among cardholders with unpaid balances in the third quarter of 2024 was $7,236, up from $7,130 in the second quarter. That includes debt from bank cards and retail credit cards.

Six states spread throughout the nation have average balances of at least $9,000. Connecticut leads at $9,323, followed closely by the District of Columbia ($9,209) and California ($9,191). However, New Jersey, Florida and Alaska aren’t far behind.

The seven states with the lowest balances are in the South. Mississippi’s balance is $4,918. It’s the only state with an average balance of less than $5,000.

Wyoming has the fastest-growing card debt between the periods analyzed. That state’s average card balance grew 8.9% from the second quarter of 2024 to the third, rising from $6,312 to $6,873. Four other states saw increases of at least 5.0%, led by Kansas (up 8.3%) and New Hampshire (up 8.0%). Meanwhile, Mississippi — the state with the lowest average debt — also saw the biggest quarterly debt decrease. Mississippi residents’ debt fell 6.6% from $5,265 to $4,918. The only other state to see a decrease of greater than 3.0% was Pennsylvania, which fell 3.3% from $7,228 to $6,992.

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (47%) carried a balance on a credit card for at least one month in the past year, according to a May 2024 Federal Reserve study.

47% of adult credit cardholders carried a balance in the past year.

Job No. 1 for anyone with a credit card is to pay off that balance in full at the end of each month. But we all know that life happens, and that means that it’s not always possible to pay off your credit cards each month.

Federal Reserve data showed that fewer than half (47%) of credit cardholders carried a balance at some point in 2023. That’s down a percentage point from 2021 and 2022 but is down even further from 2020, when that rate was 50%.

For all credit cards, the average APR in the third quarter of 2024 was 21.76%.

For cards accruing interest, the average in the third quarter of 2024 was 23.37%.

For new credit card offers, the average today is 24.43% after the third consecutive monthly decrease in the wake of the Fed’s recent rate cuts.

Average APRs for current card accounts and new credit card offers
Average APR for all current card accounts 21.76%
Average APR for all accounts that accrue interest 23.37%
Average APR for new credit card offers 24.43%

Sources: Federal Reserve, LendingTree data

The Federal Reserve’s G.19 consumer credit report showed that the average APRs for cards accruing interest rose to 23.37% in the third quarter of 2024, up from 22.78% in the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, APRs for all current credit card accounts rose to 21.76% in the third quarter of 2024, up from 21.51% in the second quarter of 2024. Both of these averages are record highs. However, these numbers — the most recent available — are from August, prior to the Fed’s September and November rate cuts. Expect rates to be lower when the next quarter’s numbers are released in January and for that downward trend to continue well into next year.

If you plan to get a new credit card, your interest rate will likely be higher than those listed above. The latest LendingTree data on credit card APRs shows that the average APR with a new credit card offer is 24.43%, with the average card offering an APR range of 20.97% to 27.90% (your rate varies based on your creditworthiness). Those rates fell in December — the third straight monthly drop on the heels of the Fed’s September meeting in which it announced it would reduce rates for the first time since March 2020. The Fed also cut rates a quarter point at its Nov. 6-7 meeting, and many observers expect another rate cut from the Fed in its final 2024 meeting in December. That isn’t guaranteed, however. Regardless, credit cardholders should expect rates to stay high for the foreseeable future. After all, rates aren’t going to go from awful to awesome overnight.

And as the chart below shows, the rate you’re offered can also vary widely based on the type of card for which you apply.

Average APRs by category

CategoryMinimum APRMaximum APRAveragePrevious month
Average APR for all new card offers20.97%27.90%24.43%24.61%
0% balance transfer cards18.53%27.63%23.08%23.17%
No-annual-fee cards20.47%27.47%23.97%24.13%
Rewards cards20.70%28.01%24.36%24.53%
Cash back cards21.32%27.96%24.64%24.79%
Travel rewards cards20.34%28.57%24.45%24.67%
Airline credit cards20.55%28.99%24.77%24.98%
Hotel credit cards20.44%28.77%24.61%24.84%
Low-interest credit cards13.54%22.38%17.96%18.05%
Grocery rewards cards20.38%28.14%24.26%24.46%
Gas rewards cards20.91%27.95%24.43%24.62%
Dining rewards cards20.21%28.17%24.19%24.40%
Student credit cards18.66%28.32%23.49%23.57%
Secured credit cards26.88%26.88%26.88%27.06%

Source: LendingTree review of publicly available terms and conditions for about 220 U.S. credit cards.

Of course, your best move is to make those interest rates a moot point by paying your card debt in full, but that’s often easier said than done.

Just 3.23% of Americans’ total outstanding credit card balances are currently at least 30 days delinquent.

Delinquency rates have risen steadily since the lows seen in the pandemic.

According to the most recent delinquency data from the Fed, the 30-day delinquency rate (or the percentage of total outstanding credit card balances currently at least 30 days overdue) dipped slightly, from 3.24% in the second quarter of 2024 to 3.23% in the third quarter.

That ends a streak of 11 straight quarters of increases. During that period, delinquency rates rose to the highest levels seen since the fourth quarter of 2011, when rates hit 3.25%. However, delinquency rates are still near historic lows. The average delinquency rate since the Fed began tracking in 1991 is 3.72%, while the average since 2000 is 3.45%.

Today’s numbers are also vastly different from what we saw during the Great Recession, when delinquencies peaked at nearly 7% in 2009 and stayed above 5% for nearly two years.

The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.

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