America has a debt problem, and it appears to be getting worse.
According to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the total debt burden for American households reached a record of $18.59 trillion in Q3 2025, an increase of $197 billion from the previous quarter (1).
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Mortgages remained the largest slice of this total burden at $13.07 trillion, or roughly 70% of all household debt. After that, auto loans reached $1.66 trillion, student loans totaled $1.65 trillion, and credit card balances stood at $1.23 trillion.
With such a high national debt figure, it's getting harder to find Americans who aren't paying off a loan these days. Debt.org recently found that 90% of Americans carry some form of debt (2). Meanwhile, the average cumulative debt amount for an American is now roughly $104,755, according to Experian (3).
On the face of it, all of these stats really don't paint a pretty picture of American purchasing power. And while there's a lot to cringe at in this new report, there are also a few nuances to factor into the equation.
What's really behind America's $18.59 trillion debt
Even though mortgages are the main driver of debt, the rise in credit card debt and student loans are arguably more worrying.
For starters, mortgage delinquencies are stabilizing at a low rate (4). That leads the Fed to believe balance sheets at many American homes remain relatively robust even as debt climbs.
Secondly, the combination of high student loan debt and credit card payments suggests younger and lower-income borrowers are struggling the most in this economy. The current delinquency rate for student loans is 9.4 %, which is up from 7.8% in Q1 of 2025.
Granted, federal student‑loan payments were paused during the pandemic, and some missed payments during that time weren't reported to credit bureaus until recently. Even though this recent spike in student-loan delinquencies is eye-catching, there's a reporting lag that slightly skews the results.
Still, the combination of higher delinquency rates in student loans and rising credit card debt signals to serious stress points, strongly supporting the idea of a "K-shaped economy."