Americans' credit card debt climbed to $1.26 trillion in the second quarter of this year, putting balances just shy of the $1.28 trillion record set in the fourth quarter of last year. The increase of $21 billion kept card debt near its peak even as households continued to rely on revolving balances.
The number matters now because consumers are still carrying more debt while prices remain high and spending stays strong. Those forces tend to push card balances higher, and the New York Fed said rising costs for essentials such as groceries and gas helped drive the latest increase. The report is based on an anonymized, nationally representative sample drawn from Equifax credit report data, which gives it a broad view of borrowing across U.S. households.
What makes the report harder to read is that higher delinquency rates do not appear to come mainly from fresh spending. Researchers at the New York Fed said the rise in balances more than 90 days delinquent, from 7.6% in mid-2022 to 12.8% in early 2026, can be traced to old outstanding debts rather than borrowers falling behind on new charges. That suggests many households are not simply spending more today; they are still trying to catch up on balances that have already been hanging over them for months.
The broader household picture is mixed. U.S. household debt stands at $18.8 trillion, and debt on auto loans and home equity lines of credit rose from April through June even as student debt and mortgage debt fell over the same period. Auto loan debt reached $1.71 trillion, a new record high, showing that pressure is not confined to cards alone. The near-record credit card total, paired with higher delinquencies, points to consumers leaning harder on borrowing and taking longer to get out from under it.
For now, the question is not whether credit card balances are elevated. They are. The sharper issue is how long households can keep carrying them at this level before more of those old debts spill further into delinquency.
