Credit card debt rose $21 billion in the second quarter to $1.26 trillion, leaving U.S. household balances just shy of the $1.28 trillion record set in the fourth quarter of last year. For households carrying revolving balances, the rise means more debt is sitting at a level that has already tested budgets and pushed more accounts into trouble.
New York Fed sees $1.26 trillion
The $1.26 trillion total came from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest report, which drew on an anonymized, nationally representative sample from Equifax credit report data. Strong consumer spending and higher prices for essentials like groceries and gas were cited as factors behind the larger balances, a combination that can lift card debt even when borrowing behavior is unchanged.
$21 billion in one quarter is a meaningful increase even at this scale, especially with credit card balances already close to the all-time high. The report also showed Americans’ debt on auto loans and home equity lines of credit increased from April through June, while student debt and mortgage debt decreased, making credit cards one of the categories still moving higher inside the broader $18.8 trillion U.S. household debt load.
Delinquency rate climbed to 12.8%
12.8% of credit card balances were more than 90 days delinquent in early 2026, up from 7.6% in mid-2022. New York Fed researchers said some of that rise comes from old outstanding debts rather than new charges, which means the worsening payment picture is not just a fresh borrowing story; part of it reflects balances that have been hanging around long enough to age into delinquency.
“There are a lot of households who live paycheck to paycheck, and it just needs one thing to happen to them that could lead to a delinquency.” That warning points to how quickly a small shock can turn into a missed payment for families already carrying revolving debt. The pressure is clearest for households that are still using cards for everyday spending while older balances continue to age in the background.
A separate credit card fraud case shows how quickly card-related problems can pile up when balances and account trouble spread at the same time. The next signal to watch is whether the delinquency share keeps rising faster than balances, since that would show more households slipping from heavy use into sustained payment strain.
