Teach great classes on credit reports, credit scores and credit cards.
Credit Stats
Credit Card Statistics, Credit Score Statistics & Credit Report Statistics
The following credit statistics come from a variety of sources. They cover all manner of credit statistics. This includes stats about credit cards, credit scores and credit reports. These credit stats may be used to complement classes taught with The Good Credit Game, a credit curriculum kit. For media inquiries about credit, contact information is below.
Credit Statistics Data - US Federal Reserve
Some of the best, most accurate, most-updated credit statistics come from these reports, which are updated on a regular basis. More current information may be available than what's posted below:
Consumer Credit Outstanding (in $ billions)
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Revolving credit (credit cards, etc.)
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2009 - $916.8 billion
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2010 - $840.0 billion
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2011 - $841.7 billion
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2012 - $846.7 billion
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2013 - $857.5 billion
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Non-revolving credit (home loans, etc.)
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2009 - $1,636.1 billion
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2010 - $1,807.4 billion
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2011 - $1,914.2 billion
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2012 - $2,076.9 billion
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2013 - $2,239.8 billion
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Terms of credit from commercial banks on a 48-mo new car loan
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2009 - 6.72%
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2010 - 6.21%
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2011 - 5.73%
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2012 - 4.91%
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2013 - 4.43%
Terms of credit from commercial banks on a 24-mo personal loan
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2009 - 11.10%
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2010 - 10.87%
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2011 - 10.88%
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2012 - 10.71%
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2013 - 10.20%
Interest rate paid on credit cards (issued by commercial banks)
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2009 - 13.40%
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2010 - 13.78%
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2011 - 12.74%
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2012 - 12.06%
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2013 - 11.91%
Tables from the Federal Reserve
Credit Card Debt Statistics - StatisticBrain (2012)
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Total U.S. credit card debt - $793.1 Billion
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Average credit card debt per household - $15,799
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Average household debt - $54,000
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Percent of consumers that carried an unpaid balance in the past 12 months - 56%
What's in a FICO credit score - myFICO.com
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Payment history - 35%
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Amounts owed - 30%
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Length of credit history - 15%
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New credit - 10%
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Types of credit used - 10%
American Household Credit Card Debt Statistics: 2014 - NerdWallet
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Average credit card debt: $15,191
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Average mortgage debt: $154,365
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Average student loan debt: $33,607
Credit Card Stats: Debt of Low-and Middle-Income Households - Demos’ 2012 National Survey
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In 2012, the average credit card debt totaled $7,145, down from $9,887 in 2008.
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40 percent of households used credit cards to pay for basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage bills, groceries, utilities, or insurance, in the past year because they did not have enough money in their checking or savings accounts.
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Over the past three years, 39 percent of households experienced tighter credit, such as having cards canceled, credit limits reduced, or being denied a card when applying.
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While 62 percent of overall indebted households reported that their credit was “excellent” or “good” only 44 percent of African Americans and 55 percent of Latinos described their credit in such positive terms.
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The number of households who report paying late fees on their credit cards has declined dramatically: in the 2008 survey, half of households reported accruing late fees – in 2012, it was just 28 percent.
Experian's Fourth Annual Credit Study: State of Credit (2013)
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Credit scores and credit behavior by age:
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Greatest Generation - 66+
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Baby Boomers - 47-65
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Generation X - 30-46
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Millennials - 19-29
Note: Credit scores use VantageScore model
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National average credit score in the United States: 681
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National average debt: $27,887
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National average of bankcards: 2.19
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National average bankcard balance: $4,501
Average credit score:
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Greatest Generation - 735
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Baby Boomers - 700
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Generation X - 653
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Millennials - 628
Average balance of credit cards
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Greatest Generation - $3,044
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Baby Boomers - $5,347
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Generation X - $5,343
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Millennials - $2,682
Average credit utilization
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Greatest Generation - 16%
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Baby Boomers - 30%
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Generation X - 37%
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Millennials - 37%
Average late payments
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Greatest Generation - .14
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Baby Boomers - .33
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Generation X - .61
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Millennials - .58
The 2014 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey
(National Foundation for Credit Counseling)
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As in 2013, most adults have not reviewed their credit score (60%) or their credit report (65%) within the past 12 months.
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More than half of adults (54%) reviewed neither their credit report or credit score.
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About three in ten (29%) reviewed both their credit report and credit score.
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11% of U.S. adults reviewed their credit score but not their credit report.
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7% reviewed their credit report but not their credit score.
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Among those who ordered their credit report(s) in the past 12 months:
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Exactly half (50%) did so because it was free, a sentiment echoed by those who ordered or received their credit score (also 50%).
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More than two in five (44%) say they review their credit report(s) regularly as part of managing their personal finances
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Nearly two in five (37%) ordered their report(s) because they were curious
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Among those who did not order their credit report(s) in the past 12 months, more than one in four (27%) say they didn’t know of any reason why they should.
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Nearly one in four who did not order a report in the past 12 months (23%) say they already knew their credit score(s) so they didn’t think they needed their credit report(s).
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About one in five U.S. adults (21%) are not at all sure about what types of information are typically included on a standard credit report, and many have misconceptions about, or are unaware
of, the specific types of information that a credit report would contain:
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More than half of adults (54%) mistakenly believe that their credit score(s) are included on a standard credit report.
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Only 61% are aware (i.e., 39% are not aware) that their full legal name appears on their credit report.
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While 59% know that their credit report would contain their current address, only 44% know that previous addresses are also included.
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Only about half of adults know that their Social Security number (49%) and date of birth (48%) are included on their credit report(s).
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About one in four (27%)–or more than 63 million Americans–indicated that they would reach out to a professional non-profit credit counseling agency for help.
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Nearly three in four adults (73%) agree–and one in five (20%) strongly agree–that they could benefit from advice and answers to everyday financial questions from a professional.
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About one in three U.S. adults (34%) indicated their household carries credit card debt from month to month.
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Fifteen percent of adults–or more than 35 million people–roll over $2,500 or more in credit card each month.
The 2012 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey (National Foundation for Credit Counseling & Network Branded Prepaid Card Association)
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Just over two in five U.S. adults (43%) report that they have a budget and keep close track of their expenditures. More than half (56%) admit they do not have a budget, including more than 1 in 5 (22%) who say they don’t have a good idea of how much they spend on housing, food and entertainment.
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The proportion of adults who do not pay all of their bills on time has increased from 28% in 2011 to 33% in 2012–that is, fully one-third of U.S. adults, or more than 77 million Americans, do not pay all of their bills on time.
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About one in ten adults (11%) get direct deposit to a prepaid debit card, and 8% receive a paper check that they manually deposit to a prepaid card.
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Though the proportion of adults who have ordered or received their credit score in the past 12 months has increased significantly since last year (44% 2012 vs. 37% 2011), most adults have reviewed neither their credit score (55%) or their credit report (62%).
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Nearly two in five Americans (39%) carry credit card debt from month to month.
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Americans continue to learn about personal finance primarily from their parents or at home (44%), yet 4 in 5 adults (80%) admit they could benefit from additional advice and answers to everyday financial questions from a professional.
Average interest rates on new credit cards (balance transfer rate, cash back, reward, bad credit, etc.) - CreditCards.com - May 2014
Interest rates charged on credit cards can vary widely, depending on the type of transaction and the type of card. In this case, rates ranged from 10.37% on a low-interest credit card to 28% on an instant approval credit card.
Gallup Poll on Credit Card Statistics - April 2014
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More Americans who own credit cards say they always pay the full amount of their credit card balance (48%) than did so in the years before the 2008-2009 Great Recession.
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The 33% of credit card holders who say they leave a balance each month is a record low since Gallup began measuring these habits periodically in 2001.
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The 64% of Americans who always or usually pay the full amount of their credit card balance is the highest Gallup has recorded.
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The 29% of Americans who do not own any credit cards is up from 22% in 2008.
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On the opposite end of the spectrum, those who say they have seven or more cards is at 7%.
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Overall, Americans have an average of 2.6 cards, including those who say they have no credit cards. For credit card owners, the average is 3.7 cards.
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Americans, including those who do not own a card, carry an average of $2,426 in credit card debt, more than $500 less than what they said in 2008.
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Among credit card owners, the balance of credit card debt is $3,573.
Young Adults, Student Debt and Economic Well-Being - Pew Research Center (May 2014)
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About four-in-ten U.S. households (37%) headed by an adult younger than 40 currently have some student debt—the highest share on record.
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The median outstanding student debt load stands at about $13,000.
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Households headed by a young, college-educated adult without any student debt obligations have about seven times the typical net worth ($64,700) of households headed by a young, college-educated adult with student debt ($8,700).
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The typical household income of college-educated student debtors ($57,941) is nearly twice that of households whose heads do not have a bachelor’s degree ($32,528)
Federal Trade Commission study of the U.S. credit reporting industry (February 2013)
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One in four consumers identified errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit scores.
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One in five consumers had an error that was corrected by a credit reporting agency (CRA) after it was disputed, on at least one of their three credit reports.
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Four out of five consumers who filed disputes experienced some modification to their credit report.
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Slightly more than one in 10 consumers saw a change in their credit score after the CRAs modified errors on their credit report.
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Approximately one in 20 consumers had a maximum score change of more than 25 points and only one in 250 consumers had a maximum score change of more than 100 points.
2014 Americans and Credit Card Debt Survey (January 2014)
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A little more than 40% of those surveyed say it is extremely likely they will be able to eliminate all of their credit card debt this year.
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17% say it is somewhat likely and 10% say it is moderately likely they will be able to eliminate all of their credit card debt this year.
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Just over 32% report it is somewhat or extremely unlikely that they will be able to wipe out their credit card debt in 2014.
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90% of those with $1,000 or less in outstanding balances say they are extremely likely or somewhat likely to pay that off this year.
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40% of those with balances of $5,001-$10,000 say they are extremely likely or somewhat likely to pay that off this year.
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13% of those with balances greater than $20,000 report it is extremely likely to pay that off this year.
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92% of those with outstanding credit card balances have not seriously considered getting professional debt help from a credit counseling agency or bankruptcy attorney.
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Nearly 15% of all consumers who reported carrying debt say they had seriously considered credit card debt consolidation.
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71% of consumers with very large balances — $50,000-$75,000 — have seriously considered bankruptcy, while only 14% say the same about credit card debt consolidation and credit counseling.