The Federal Reserve Bank of New York just released new data on household debt, and WalletHub’s inflation-adjusted analysis revealed that while U.S. households owed a record amount in absolute terms ($18.39 trillion) at the end of Q2 2025, inflation-adjusted debt is roughly $1.05 trillion below the record from 2008.
WalletHub also released a new, nationally representative survey gauging how households are dealing with debt. You can find key highlights below.
Key Findings (Inflation Adjusted)
- Q2 Results: Total household debt increased by $28 billion during Q2 2025. That is 5.8X more than the increase in Q2 2024.
- Household Average: The average household owed a total of $152,653 at the end of Q2 2025, which is $13,809 below the all-time high.
- Total Debt-to-Deposits Ratio: The ratio of total household debt to deposits indicates consumers are in a stable position. It’s still below pre-Covid levels and roughly 47% lower than the early-2000s peak.
- Total Debt-to-Assets: The ratio between total household debt and assets, at 9.57%, continues to be at a very healthy level.
Full study: https://wallethub.com/edu/d/household-debt-report/120725
Household Debt Survey Results
- More Debt Ahead: 44% of people expect their household debt to increase in the next 12 months.
- Fighting Debt on the Home Front: More than half of Americans say their household is struggling with debt.
- Homes Divided by Debt: Nearly 2 in 5 people say debt is a source of conflict in their household.
- Unfair Debt Assistance: 44% of Americans think the preferential treatment given to student loan borrowers over the past 5 years was not fair.
- Economic Letdown: More than 2 in 3 people say the economy is not doing as well as they thought it would be.
- Debt Until Death: 55% of Americans think they’ll still have debt when they die.
Full survey: https://wallethub.com/blog/household-debt-survey/142811