How Many Americans Are in Debt?
The average American debt (per U.S. adult) is $66,772, and 77% of American households have at least some type of debt.
Some of the most common types of debt in America include credit cards, student loans, auto loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), and mortgages.

Credit Card Debt
Eight out of 10 adults in America have at least one credit card, and 48% of them carry a balance within a given year (meaning they don’t pay their credit cards down to zero each month, so they have credit card debt). That’s over 100 million people with this kind of debt. The average credit card debt per person is $6,501—with the total in America hitting $1.13 trillion.
The average APR (annual percentage rate, or interest rate) on credit cards is 22.63%. Those 100 million people with credit card balances pay that interest. Think of it like this: If you multiply 22.63% by the $1.13 trillion Americans owe, that’s about $256 billion that credit card companies will make on interest alone.

Student Loan Debt
Each borrower owes an average of $38,290. The fastest-growing debt in America, student loan debt has doubled since the Great Recession and makes up 9% of the country’s debt total. Adults say the weight of student loans keeps them from basic financial and life decisions. For example, 44% delay investing in retirement, and 33% put off buying a home. And 14% even wait to get married because of their student loan debt.

Auto Loan Debt
About 35% of U.S. households (that’s around 44 million) have this kind of debt, with an average of $36,357 per household. So, how much are these people paying each month? Well, the average monthly car payment is $738 for new vehicles and $532 for used.

Mortgage Debt
For most people, housing is their biggest monthly expense. That means they pay a larger percentage of their monthly income to rent or a mortgage than any other budget category. Mortgages account for 70% of all American debt.

The Changing Economy and 2024 Debt
You probably don’t need anyone to tell you that life has gotten a lot more expensive over the last few years. Specifically, the overall inflation rate in the U.S. since 2020 is almost at 20%. (That means, on average, everything now costs almost 20% more than it did four years ago.)

Here’s a look at how much some specific costs have gone up:

Home Costs: In March of 2024, the median home price in America was $429,950. That’s an increase of over $130,000 since the start of 2020!
Car Prices: From June 2020 to June 2023, the price of a used car rose 32%.
Credit Card Interest Rates: The average interest rate for credit cards has gone from 16.61% at the start of 2020 to 22.63% in 2024.
Gas Prices: A gallon of gas cost 29% more in April 2024 than at the start of 2020.
Groceries: Grocery prices have increased by a whopping 25% over the past four years.
Rising Insurance Premiums: Insurance has gotten more expensive in pretty much every category, but auto insurance has been hit the hardest: a 36% increase since 2020.
Unfortunately, rising costs like these have caused more and more people across the country to rely on debt to make ends meet.