Debt Dilemma 2024: Americans Struggle As Credit Card Debt Balances Soar To Trillion-Dollar Highs

Last updated on August 1st, 2024 at 08:08 pm

Keeping up with credit card debt is getting harder for Americans. They now owe a total of $1.12 trillion on their credit cards, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. On average, each person owes $6,218, which is 8.5% more than last year.

Credit Card Debt Statistics:

Total Credit Card Debt	$1.12 trillion
Average Balance per Consumer	$6,218
Yearly Increase in Average Balance	8.5%

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People are using credit cards more because of higher prices and interest rates, which are making it tough for households.
Prices are still going up, but not as fast as before. The consumer price index, which measures inflation, was at 3.4% in April, down from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022.
Young adults are struggling to pay for things like rent, student loans, and car payments.
This is leading to more people falling behind on their credit card payments. About 8.9% of credit card balances were overdue in the last year.
More people are opening new credit card accounts, especially those with lower credit scores.
Credit cards charge high interest rates, around 20.66% on average. If you only pay the minimum amount, it could take you 18 years to pay off your debt and cost you over $9,200 in interest.
To pay off credit card debt faster, it’s best to pay more than the minimum each month or consider switching to a card with no interest for a period of time. You could also try to make extra money or cut back on expenses to pay off debt quicker.