Comprehensive Debt Consolidation Reviews for 2026

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Read our editorial guidelines here. Americans have a record amount of charge card financial obligation $1.252 trillion, to be exact. This credit card financial obligation stats page tracks Americans' charge card use monthly. We upgrade this page frequently, examining just how much debt customers hold, how typically they bring balances from month to month, how regularly they pay their charge card costs late and other key trends.

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While credit card debt tends to rise year over year, it normally falls from Q4 of one year to Q1 of the next. Even with this quarter's reduction, credit card balances have actually risen by $482 billion given that Q1 2021, when credit card debt bottomed out at $770 billion during the pandemic.

Americans' charge card financial obligation is $325 billion higher than the pre-pandemic record set in Q4 2019, when balances stood at $927 billion. (That's a 35% increase.) Credit card balances have actually traditionally rebounded after first-quarter declines, though future borrowing trends will depend on elements consisting of interest rates, inflation and more comprehensive economic conditions.

Ways to Settle Your Debt in 2026

Charge card debt rose steadily till the monetary crisis, then declined from $866 billion in Q4 2008 to $660 billion in Q1 2013 before resuming its upward trajectory. When the pandemic took hold in 2020, credit 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 debt 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 3rd quarter of 2025 and more than 410,000 in Q3 2024.

Joint accounts were divided in half to show shared duty between the account holders. LendingTree analysts evaluated anonymized credit report data from Q3 2025 for more than 400,000 LendingTree users to compute these averages and develop a list of states with the most debt. The analysis was likewise compared to Q3 2024 information 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 evaluated.

Detailed Analysis of Debt Consolidation Trends

3 other states saw double-digit increases, including South Dakota (up 11.7%), Nebraska (up 11.3%) and Wisconsin (up 10.2%). On The Other Hand, New Mexico saw the largest year-over-year decline in financial obligation, with its homeowners' financial obligation falling 10.3% from $6,543 to $5,871. In all, 7 states saw charge card balances reduce in the past year.

Fewer than half of adult credit cardholders (45%) brought a balance on a credit card for a minimum of one month in the past year, according to a May 2026 Federal Reserve research study utilizing 2025 information. Paying a credit card balance completely each month is the most effective method to prevent interest charges and keep debt from collecting.

For all credit cards, the average APR in Q2 2026 was 20.94%. For cards accumulating interest, the average in Q2 2026 was 22.15%. For brand-new credit card provides, the average is 23.79%. Typical APR, current card accounts: 20.94% Average APR, accounts that accumulate interest: 22.15% Typical APR, brand-new credit card offers: 23.79% The Federal Reserve's G. 19 customer credit report showed that the typical APRs for cards accumulating interest rose to 22.15% in Q2 2026, up from 21.52% in Q1 2026.

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Customers opening a brand-new charge card account might face greater rates than the averages for existing accounts. The newest LendingTree data on credit card APRs reveals that the typical APR with a brand-new charge card deal is 23.79%, with the typical card using an APR variety 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. Simply 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 outstanding 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 decrease.