More Americans burdened by long-term credit card debt, study says

Americans are carrying credit card debt for far longer than they used to.

According to a new survey from Bankrate, 61% of credit card debtors say they’ve held that debt for more than a year. That’s up from 53% in 2024.

Overall credit debt has ballooned by more than 5% from a year ago, now at $1.23 trillion economy-wide, according to the latest data from the New York Federal Reserve. 

Wages are growing faster than inflation overall. But Steve Blitz, chief U.S. economist at TS Lombard, said that’s not the case for everyone.

“Some people don’t get any wage rate increases at all in the course of a given year,” Blitz said.

He said stagnant wages and persistent inflation are a bad combination.

“When you’re in that kind of world, it becomes very difficult to grow out of a debt problem,” Blitz said.

Those credit card balances just keep rolling over.

Chip Lupo, an analyst at WalletHub, said that makes it harder for people to apply for additional credit. Long-term debt also impacts more than just finances, he said.

“One in five consumers say that they’re very stressed about their credit card debt, which reflects the mental strain of carrying balances month after month,” Lupo said.

One factor that could be drawing out that debt is timing.

Households may have delayed some credit card payments during the holiday season, said Ben Guttman-Kenney, an assistant professor of finance at Rice University.

“People spend a lot in the runup to Christmas buying gifts for their family and friends, and also going on holidays and trips,” he said.

But credit card debt could come down in the new year. The Federal Reserve’s interest rates have been elevated in recent years.

“That’s meant consumers have higher interest rates on their credit cards,” Guttman-Kenney said.

But he said if the Federal Reserve remains worried about the job market, there could be further rate cuts to come.