A quarterly updated snapshot of how much Americans owe, household debt, credit cards, private student loans, personal and consolidation loans, credit reporting, delinquencies, and federal IRS tax debt, pulled from the Federal Reserve, Experian, the CFPB, the IRS, and other leading consumer-finance sources.
What Americans owe across every major loan type.
Total U.S. household debt stood at $18.771 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, a 0.1% decrease of $13 billion from the prior quarter and $383 billion higher than a year earlier. This was the first quarterly decline in years. It was driven almost entirely by a $74 billion drop in mortgage balances, while non-housing balances kept growing by $48 billion. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Q2 2026
Household debt edged down for the first time in years
Total U.S. household debt by quarter, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 ($ trillions), Federal Reserve Bank of New York
How $18.771 trillion in household debt breaks down
Balances by category, Q2 2026 ($ trillions), Federal Reserve Bank of New York
| Debt category | Balance (Q2 2026) | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage debt | $13.117 trillion | +$182B |
| Home equity line of credit (HELOC) | $459 billion | +$48B |
| Auto loans | $1.713 trillion | +$58B |
| Student loans | $1.651 trillion | +$13B |
| Credit cards | $1.263 trillion | +$54B |
| Other | $568 billion | +$28B |
| Total household debt | $18.771 trillion | +$383B |
What the typical borrower’s balance sheet looks like.
Distress is not spread evenly. About 137,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports in Q2 2026, a small increase from the prior quarter, and roughly 55,000 had a new foreclosure, a slight improvement. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Q2 2026
The share of balances slipping into late payment.
About 4.7% of all outstanding household debt was in some stage of delinquency at the end of June 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from the prior quarter. The chart below shows the annualized rate at which current balances newly fell into serious (90+ day) delinquency, a leading indicator of financial distress. Across all debt types that flow rate was 2.57% in Q2 2026. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Q2 2026
Flow into serious delinquency by debt type
Annualized share of balances newly 90+ days late, Q2 2026, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The most expensive debt most households carry.
At the 22.15% APR the Federal Reserve reports for accounts assessed interest, the average credit card balance of $6,659 left unpaid costs roughly $1,475 a year in interest alone Experian, 2026, which is why high-interest credit card debt is the most common reason households seek relief. For balances beyond what a household can repay in full, a done-for-you Debt Settlement program negotiates those balances directly with creditors.
Why more Americans are rolling high-rate debt into one fixed payment.
With the average credit card APR at 20.94% across all accounts and 22.15% on accounts assessed interest, a growing number of households are turning to fixed-rate personal loans, often to consolidate balances into a single lower-rate monthly payment. The Federal Reserve puts the average 24-month personal loan rate at commercial banks at 11.86% in Q2 2026. Federal Reserve G.19, Q2 2026
Why consolidation can cut your interest costs
Average interest rate: credit card vs. personal / consolidation loan, Q2 2026, Federal Reserve G.19
Moving high-interest balances into a single fixed-rate loan is the core of a debt consolidation loan strategy, one payment, one rate, and a clear payoff date.
Complaints are surging, and most are about debts people say they don’t owe.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have the right to request validation of a debt before paying it. If a collector cannot verify the debt is yours, you may not have to pay it.
Errors, outdated marks, and your right to a clean report.
Your credit report drives the rate you’re offered on every loan, yet errors and outdated entries are common, and credit reporting is now, by far, the single largest source of consumer complaints in the country.
A hard inquiry from a credit application stays on your report for two years, though most of its scoring impact fades within the first 12 months. Inquiries you didn’t authorize, or that resulted from identity errors, can be disputed and removed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Under the FCRA, most negative items must fall off your report after seven years; collections and charge-offs after seven years plus 180 days from the original delinquency; and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy after ten years. Anything still reporting past those windows is outdated and can be disputed for removal. Separately, each state’s statute of limitations (typically three to six years) limits how long a creditor can sue to collect, a debt past that window is “time-barred.”
How long negative marks can stay on your credit report
Maximum reporting period under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (years), FTC / CFPB
United Debt Relief’s Credit Repair & Builder program targets exactly these issues, disputing inaccurate and unverifiable items, challenging unauthorized inquiries, pressing for removal of outdated entries past their FCRA window, and helping you build positive credit going forward.
A smaller, higher-rate, and faster-growing corner of the student loan market.
Private student loans are a smaller but higher-rate segment of student debt. Unlike federal loans, they rarely offer income-driven repayment, federal forgiveness, or extended forbearance, leaving borrowers with fewer options when they fall behind.
What Americans owe the IRS, and how aggressively it’s collected.
Beyond consumer loans, millions of Americans owe the federal government. In its Fiscal Year 2025 Data Book, the IRS opened about 2.5 million new taxpayer delinquency investigations, filed 214,099 federal tax liens, and netted $73.1 billion collecting on unpaid assessments.
Offers in Compromise: only about 1 in 7 is accepted
Offers received vs. accepted, FY2025, IRS Data Book
With acceptance rates low and lien filings rising, professional tax resolution, installment agreements, penalty abatement, or an Offer in Compromise, is increasingly how taxpayers resolve IRS debt.
The average U.S. consumer carried about $105,444 in total debt in 2025 (Experian). Excluding mortgages, the average was roughly $21,603, and the average monthly debt payment was $1,256.
Total household debt stood at $18.771 trillion in Q2 2026, a 0.1% decrease of $13 billion from the prior quarter and $383 billion higher than a year earlier (Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
It went down slightly. Balances fell $13 billion, or 0.1%, in the second quarter of 2026, the first quarterly decline in years. The drop came almost entirely from a $74 billion decrease in mortgage balances, while non-housing debt grew $48 billion (Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
The average APR across all accounts was 20.94% in Q2 2026, and about 22.15% for accounts assessed interest (Federal Reserve G.19).
About 11.86% for a 24-month personal loan at commercial banks in Q2 2026 (Federal Reserve G.19), roughly 10 percentage points below the 22.15% average on credit card accounts assessed interest, which is why consolidation can lower borrowing costs. Results vary by credit profile.
4.7% of all outstanding household debt was in some stage of delinquency at the end of June 2026, down 0.1 percentage points from the prior quarter. Credit cards sent 6.97% of balances newly into serious delinquency and student loans 7.83% (Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
Private student loans totaled about $167.4 billion as of Q3 2025, up nearly 20% from $139.8 billion in 2024, with about 1.62% in default (Education Data Initiative). Unlike federal loans, private student loans usually lack income-driven repayment and federal forgiveness.
In fiscal year 2025, the IRS accepted about 14.1% of Offers in Compromise, or 5,464 of 38,797 offers submitted (IRS Data Book). An Offer in Compromise lets qualifying taxpayers settle federal tax debt for less than the full amount owed.
Under the FCRA, most negative items must be removed after 7 years; collections and charge-offs after 7 years plus 180 days; hard inquiries after 2 years; and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy after 10 years. Items still reporting past those limits can be disputed for removal.
Every figure on this page is drawn from an authoritative source dated 2025 or later (legal timelines reflect the Fair Credit Reporting Act). We refresh the data quarterly.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures reflect the most recent data available as of August 2026 and are refreshed quarterly.
In-depth guides on the topics covered above, one for each dataset on this page. To see the programs behind these numbers, compare all five options on the United Debt Relief home page.
All five options side by side, and who each one actually fits.
What the balances and APRs above mean when you call your issuer.
Two paths out once delinquency has already set in.
Fees, eligibility, and the 36-month total cost compared.
Repay in full at a lower rate, or negotiate the balance down.
The FDCPA rights behind the collection complaint data above.
A step-by-step recovery plan for the error rates shown above.
The penalty, lien, and levy timeline behind the IRS figures.
The credentials, fee rules, and disclosures to check before enrolling.
United Debt Relief is America’s Debt Relief Experts, a national debt relief company serving all 50 states. Our five programs span debt settlement, debt validation, debt consolidation loans, tax resolution, and credit repair, so your debt, tax, and credit problems are handled together rather than referred out. Our specialists assess your situation, explain each option, and enroll you in the one that fits. Program services are performed by our stringently vetted in-network providers and law firms, each BBB Accredited with an A rating. Results vary by situation.
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