Credit Karma’s State of Debt and Credit Report

April-June 2025

Updated July 29, 2025

Written by: Rebecca Moran

A picture of average American debt through Credit Karma’s members

Credit Karma Stat Snapshot

Average total debt:

$57,547

Generation with highest average total debt:

Gen X

Generation with highest YoY increase in total debt:

Gen Z

Average credit card debt:

$7,608

Average mortgage debt:

$268,293

Average credit score:

670

Average overall debt

This report provides a picture of average American debt through 96.2 million Credit Karma members with a combined overall debt of more than $9.4 trillion. Overall debt is defined as any type of debt noted on a Credit Karma member’s credit report. This includes credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical loan, auto lease and auto loan debt.

Average total debt continued upward trend in first half of 2025, with slow but steady growth across generations and credit bands

Between April and June 2025, average total overall debt among Credit Karma members rose to $57,547, a 1.11% quarter-over-quarter increase and 2.99% increase from October to December 2024. Total debt overall has been creeping up quarter over quarter, but this slow-yet-steady rise has now amounted to a notable 4.38% increase YoY. 

In the second quarter of 2025, debt increased slightly QoQ for all generations in credit card, mortgage, student loan and auto loan debt. And for the second quarter in a row, average education debt saw the highest QoQ growth of all categories (+3.39% in Q1, +1.70% in Q2).

Gen Z continues to see the fastest-growing average debt

Generation Z still leads the way in debt growth among generations, with the highest increase from Q1 to Q2 (+3.18%), and in Q2 versus Q4 2024 (+7.45%). That’s a significantly faster rate than millennials (1.85% and 4.89%, respectively). Year-over-year average debt for Gen Z increased 13.41%. 

Notably, Gen Z has had the fastest-growing credit card debt every quarter for more than a year with the exception of last quarter (Q1). Gen Z has also accumulated the most mortgage debt every quarter for the past 12 months. 

Average student loan debt continues to rise

Members in the near prime score band saw the highest gain in debt in Q2 2025 versus Q4 2024, driven by significant gains in credit card and education debt: up 3.45% for average card debt and 33.18% for student loans. 

Student loan debt grew markedly in Q2 versus Q4 2024  for all score bands — up 23.98% for subprime and 20.33% for prime. The only scoreband that didn’t see an increase in average student loan debt — and in fact saw a significant decrease — was super prime (down 10.50%).

Average inquiries are  down again, while average open collections continue to climb

Pressures from debt growth and general economic uncertainty are likely causing members to pump the brakes when it comes to taking on more debt. This is reflected in a significant 15.62% drop in average number of inquiries (3.2 to 2.7) YoY. 

Average debt among Credit Karma members broken out by generation

Gen Z’s YoY average debt (Q2 2025 vs. Q2 2024) growth stands at 13.41%, the highest of all generations. Still, Generation X continues to hold the highest average amount of debt — roughly three times that of Gen Z at $69,950 in Q2 2025.

Average debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

Higher credit score bands may tend to see greater growth in average debt because people with higher credit scores have greater access to credit on better terms — but in Q2 2025 versus Q4 2024 near prime members had the greatest increase in average debt. In fact, members in the near-prime score band — while still having the least debt after subprime — also had the greatest YoY increase in average debt growth (6.54% in Q2 2025 vs. Q2 2024), with prime a close second (5.10%).

Average credit card debt

In the second quarter of 2025, approximately 91 million Credit Karma members with at least one credit card held a total of approximately $547.9 billion in credit card debt.

All generations saw  slight decreases (averaging -2.44%) in Q2 2025 versus Q4 2024 .

Average credit card debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Despite the slowdown in average card debt growth in Q2 versus Q4 2024, average debt was slightly up QoQ and YoY. Gen X continued to have the highest average credit card debt, but Gen Z still has the highest YoY growth in average card debt (6.76%), followed by Millennials (4.71%).

Average credit card debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

Looking at the change from Q4 2024 to Q2 2025, average card debt grew the most among members in the prime scoreband. Prime members had the greatest growth in average credit card debt YoY, while superprime showed a steady decrease (-9.38% QoQ, -15.66% in Q2 2025 versus Q4 2024 and -10.02% YoY) along with the Silent generation (+0.40%QoQ, -3.47% in Q2 2025 and -1.83% YoY).

Near prime members continued to have the highest average card balances.

Average auto loan debt

In the second quarter of 2025, approximately 66.8 million Credit Karma members with at least one auto loan open held more than $999 billion in loan debt. The average next payment was $668.

The average auto loan balance among members continued to remain nearly flat at $25,536 — only a 0.57% increase Q4 2024 to Q2 2025 from $25,391.

Average auto loan debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Average auto loan debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

Average mortgage debt

From April through June 2025, approximately 34.4 million Credit Karma members with at least one mortgage held a total of more than $7 trillion in mortgage debt. The average next payment was $2,123. 

The average mortgage balance among members was up slightly year over year at $268,293, a 3.43% increase from $259,407 in April to June 2024.

Average mortgage debt among Credit Karma members by generation

In a continuing trend from  last year, Millennials and Generation Z led the way in increases in average mortgage debt: 

• Millennials had the most mortgage debt on average ($305,785) in Q2, followed by Gen X ($263,956) and Gen Z ($248,165).
• Gen Z members had the biggest increases among generations QoQ (1.71% from January to March 2025); from Q4 2024 to Q2 2025 (3.73%); and YoY (7.15%).

Average mortgage debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

Average mortgage debt decreased the most among members in the higher credit score bands.

Average student loan debt

After seeing a higher year-over-year increase in average debt in Q4 2024 versus Q4 2023, student loan debt remains the highest-growth category of debt for members so far in 2025.

In the second quarter of 2025, approximately 31.8 million Credit Karma members with at least one student loan open held a total of more than $787 billion across 84.1 million student loans. The average next payment was $118.

The average student loan balance among members in the second quarter of 2025 was $33,297 — up 5.15% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, when average student loan debt was $31,667 (and up 3.14% YoY).

Average student loan debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Year-over-year growth in average student loan debt continues to be greatest for Gen Z, with a  leading 9.64% increase YoY. Millennials are close behind at +8.30% YoY. This follows a general pickup in student loan debt in the fourth quarter of 2024 versus the same period in 2023.

Average student loan debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

If you want help with your student loans, Credit Karma’s student loan resource page can walk you through a simple, step-by-step process to check your loan status, learn about options for relief and find answers to common student loan questions.

Average credit scores

The average VantageScore 3.0 credit score for Credit Karma members with debt dropped to 670 in Q2 2025 vs. Q4 2025 — down 6 points since the fourth quarter of 2024 and 8 points YoY.  This trend toward the lower end of the prime range is notable — with the Silent generation showing the biggest decrease, followed by boomers and Gen X — and could indicate that debt growth has begun to affect overall credit health.

Average VantageScore 3.0 score among Credit Karma members with debt by generation

Accounts in collections

For this report, accounts in collections are any credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical loan, auto lease or auto loan accounts that have been sent to collections agencies, according to their credit reports. Creditors may have different standards for when they transfer debt to collections, but the typical cutoff is 120 to 150 days past due. For this report, we’re able to determine if an account is in collections but not how many days past due it is.

Among Credit Karma members with accounts in collections, the average number of open accounts (among those with collections on their credit reports)in October to December 2024 was 2.4 — relatively flat YoY from 2.3 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Two quarters later, the negative trend is more marked, perhaps driven by mounting debt and additional burdens triggered by the resumption of student loan payments.

Year over year (Q2 2024 to Q2 2025), average open collections increased for millennials nearly 52% (from 1.64 to 2.49), for Gen X by nearly 48%, and for  Gen Z by just over 43%. 

Members in the highest and lowest score bands — superprime and subprime, respectively — saw the biggest YoY increases in average collections: 26.39% for superprime (.72 to .91) and 30.37% (2.14 to 2.79) for subprime.

Keep in mind that this measure only looks at members who have open accounts in collections, not the Credit Karma member population as a whole. That means that it only captures people who are already potentially struggling with their finances.

Average number of accounts in collections among Credit Karma members by generation

Average number of accounts in collections by credit score band

Average credit inquiries

For this report, credit inquiries are applications for new credit, such as credit cards or loans. From Q4 2024 to Q2 2025, inquiries fell across all generations and scorebands, continuing a year-plus downward trend. This likely reflects a pullback on credit given various economic uncertainties around tariffs and interest rates, among other factors. 

Subprime and near prime members had the biggest decreases in inquiries among score bands over the past six months.

Average number of credit inquiries by Credit Karma members by credit score band

Average number of credit inquiries by Credit Karma members by generation

Methodology

This report drew on insights from the aggregated reports of roughly 96.2 million Credit Karma users. All aggregate data analyzed was pulled on July 7, 2025, and came from members’ TransUnion credit reports. Averages were based on information from the previous 90 days.

Average Credit Card Debt in America in 2023

A Credit Karma Study

Updated June 22, 2023

Written by: Rebecca Moran

Card debt is on the rise — up 4.4% since May 2022; Gen Z and members with lower credit scores see highest debt growth.

According to our Feb. 7, 2023, report of 74 million Credit Karma members with credit cards, Credit Karma members held more than $397 billion in credit card debt across more than 318 million open accounts. Average credit card debt by member was $6,469 — a 4.4% increase from May 2022.

Gen Z and members with credit scores of 660 and lower saw the highest growth in average debt from May 2022 to February 2023.

Read on for more findings, including a breakdown of credit card debt by generation, state and more. Learn more about our methodology.

Credit Karma Stat Snapshot

Generation with highest average credit card debt:

Gen X

Generation with lowest average credit card debt:

Gen Z

State with highest average credit card debt:

Alaska

State with lowest average credit card debt:

Mississippi

Average credit card monthly payment:

$181

Average credit card debt by generation

Generation X and baby boomer Credit Karma members, respectively, hold the highest average credit card debt, while Generation Z has the least. The average credit card debt carried members of Gen X is nearly triple the average credit card debt carried by members of Gen Z. But while Gen Z has the lowest average card debt, they saw the highest growth (7.4%) in average card debt from May 2022 to February 2023, followed by Millennials.

Generation X and baby boomer Credit Karma members, respectively, hold the highest average credit card debt, while Generation Z has the least. The average credit card debt carried by baby boomers and members of Gen X is around triple the average credit card debt carried by members of Gen Z.

Average credit card debt by state

Alaska tops the list, with members having the highest average credit card debt at $8,139, followed by Hawaii ($7,444) and New Jersey ($7,306). Members in Mississippi have the lowest average debt — $5,259. Kentucky is close behind with an average credit debt of $5,455.

Here is credit card debt by state, sorted alphabetically.

Higher average credit card debt may be due, in part, to where members live. Those with the lowest average credit card debt tend to live in states we have identified as some of the cheapest states to live in. Conversely, those with the highest average debt live in some of the states ranked the most expensive.

Average credit card debt by credit score

Credit Karma members with higher VantageScore 3.0 credit scores tend to have lower average credit card debt. Those with scores of 601 to 660 have the highest average debt — $9,295 — while those with scores of 781 to 850 average $3,345 in credit card debt.

Those with scores of 300 to 600 are an exception, with $5,684 in average card debt.

Members with lower scores saw the highest growth in average card debt from May 2022 to February 2023, while those in the highest score range saw the least.

A longer account history and lower credit card utilization can help improve credit scores.

Average monthly credit card payment

The average next credit card payment for Credit Karma members is $181. But the average payment is naturally higher for those with higher total credit card debt. For example, Gen X members average $8,266 in credit card debt and have an average next payment of $233. On the flip side, Gen Z members have an average of $2,781 in total card debt and an average next payment of only $83.

Tips for managing credit card debt

Mounting credit card debt can feel overwhelming, but the good news is that there are things you can do to find credit card relief. Here are some suggestions.

Negotiate with your credit card company

If you’ve already missed a payment or are about to, reach out to your credit card issuer. The company may be willing to work out a more manageable repayment plan for you. Some offer forbearance or hardship programs that could reduce your monthly payment or postpone a certain number of payments. You may even be able to settle your debt for a lower amount if the company determines that you aren’t able to pay back the full amount.

If you are able to work out an alternate repayment plan with your creditor, be sure to ask for the plan in writing.

Consider a personal loan to consolidate credit card debt

Consolidating your credit card debt into a personal loan may help you pay your debt off faster. With a debt consolidation personal loan, you make a single payment each month, and your interest rate is fixed, meaning it won’t change based on an index. Another benefit: Interest rates on personal loans tend to be lower than credit card rates. This can help lower your overall monthly payment and/or allow you to pay down your debt more quicky.

Take note that personal loans may come with fees, such as an origination fee or paperwork processing fee. Consider these fees when determining whether you might be able to save money with debt consolidation.

Methodology

To determine averages across credit card debt, we analyzed the accounts of more than 74 million U.S. Credit Karma members who had been active on the site within the last 36 months and who have credit card accounts. All aggregate data analyzed was pulled on Feb. 7, 2022. The data came from members’ TransUnion credit reports, and the averages were based on information from the last 90 days. For the purposes of this analysis, credit card debt is defined as any unpaid balance existing on members’ open credit cards in aggregate at the time the data was pulled. All numbers in this report were rounded to the nearest whole.