Last updated: July 2026. All figures are sourced from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve, and Experian. Publications and writers are welcome to cite this page — see the Sources section below.
How much debt does the average American actually carry in 2026? The honest answer is that it depends on how you measure it — per person, per household, or per borrower — and on which type of debt you mean. This page pulls the latest official numbers together in one place, clearly labeled and sourced, so you can see exactly where things stand.
Total U.S. Household Debt
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report, total U.S. household debt reached $18.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2026. That followed a record $18.59 trillion in the third quarter of 2025. Debt has been climbing steadily but slowly — the Q1 2026 increase was just 0.1% over the prior quarter, a sign that Americans are adding debt far more cautiously than during the rapid run-ups of recent years.
Mortgages make up the vast majority of that total. The rest is split across student loans, auto loans, credit cards, and other consumer debt.
U.S. Debt by Type (2026)
Here is how the roughly $18.8 trillion breaks down by category, based on the New York Fed’s latest data:
| Debt type | Total balance (approx.) | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage debt | ~$13.19 trillion | ~70% |
| Student loans | ~$1.6 trillion | ~9% |
| Auto loans | ~$1.6 trillion | ~9% |
| Credit card debt | ~$1.2 trillion | ~7% |
| Other (HELOC, retail, etc.) | ~$1.2 trillion | ~5% |
Percentages are rounded and totals shift slightly each quarter. Mortgages consistently account for around 70% of all household debt, which is why the headline number is so large even though most families’ day-to-day debt stress comes from the smaller, higher-interest categories like credit cards.
Average Debt Per American
Per-person figures come from Experian’s annual consumer debt study. As of September 2025, the average American carried $105,444 in total debt across all categories, including mortgages. That number is heavily skewed by home loans — if you strip out mortgage debt, the average non-mortgage balance was roughly $21,603, and notably that figure was down about 3.3% from the prior year, suggesting consumers are paying down non-housing debt faster than they are taking it on.
It is important to read these as averages, not typical balances. A relatively small number of borrowers with very large mortgages pulls the average up, so the median household owes considerably less than $105,444.
Average Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is where interest hurts the most, so it gets the most attention. The figures vary by how they are counted:
- Per cardholder: the average balance was roughly $6,730 in 2025 (Experian), up only slightly from about $6,699 a year earlier.
- Total outstanding: Americans owed roughly $1.2 trillion in credit card debt as of late 2025 (New York Fed), which is about 6.7% of all household debt.
The reason a $6,730 balance is so damaging is the interest rate. With average card APRs sitting in the low-to-mid 20% range, a $6,730 balance left at minimum payments can take well over a decade to clear and cost more in interest than the original balance. You can see exactly how long your own balance would take with our Credit Card Payoff Calculator, and compare payoff strategies with the Debt Payoff Calculator.
What These Numbers Mean For You
National averages are useful for context, but they do not pay your bills. What matters is your own numbers — your balances, your rates, and your payoff plan. Three quick takeaways from the 2026 data:
1. Most debt is mortgage debt, and that is usually fine. A mortgage at a reasonable rate is not the emergency. The debt that quietly drains households is high-interest revolving debt — credit cards and some personal loans.
2. Credit card balances are near record highs, and rates are brutal. If you are carrying a balance, attacking it is almost always your highest-return financial move. Paying off a 23% card is a guaranteed 23% return — better than almost any investment. If your balances are large, it may be worth seeing whether a lower fixed rate helps using our Debt Consolidation Calculator.
3. Non-mortgage debt is trending down. The average American is paying off non-housing debt slightly faster than adding it — a good sign. A simple written plan is what makes the difference. A 50/30/20 budget plus a defined payoff method (avalanche or snowball) is how most people actually get out.
Sources
All statistics on this page are drawn from the following public sources. Journalists, bloggers, and educators are welcome to reference this page and link back to it as a summary:
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York — Household Debt and Credit Report (Q1 2026 and Q3 2025 releases).
- Experian — Average American Debt / Consumer Debt Study (2025).
- Federal Reserve — Consumer Credit (G.19) data.
Note: Figures are approximate, rounded, and updated periodically as new quarterly data is released. Averages differ from typical (median) balances because a minority of large borrowers skews the mean. This page is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.
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