Credit Karma’s State of Debt and Credit Report (2024)

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This report provides a picture of average American debt through 88.5 million Credit Karma members with a combined overall debt of more than $8.5 trillion. Overall debt is defined as any type of debt noted on a Credit Karma member’s credit report. This includes credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical loan, auto lease and auto loan debt.

Average total debt nearly flat quarter over quarter; growth in average debt — except credit card debt — continued to slow across generations and credit bands

Between April and June 2024, average total overall debt among Credit Karma members was $55,130, a 0.70% quarter-over-quarter increase compared to an average of $54,748 from from January to March 2024.

All generations continued to see nominal increases in debt, ranging from 0.48% for the Baby boomer generation to 2.14% for Gen Z. Similarly, all credit score bands experienced small increases in total average debt, from 0.30% for members with VantageScore 3.0 scores ranging from 781 to 850 to 1.42% for members with scores ranging from 300 to 600.

Average credit card debt picked up the pace, particularly among Gen Z

Driving the small increase in total average debt was credit card debt, with a 1.77% QoQ increase. Members in every generation and score band experienced faster quarter-over-quarter growth in card debt than in Q1. Within Gen Z, in particular, average card debt rose 3.21% — the largest increase in average debt across all categories, generations and score bands for Q2.

Conversely, there was slower growth, or even declines, across generations and score bands for the other debt categories, compared to Q1. Average auto loan (0.11% QoQ increase), student loans (0.22% QoQ increase) and mortgage (0.71% QoQ increase) debt were nearly flat quarter over quarter.

Average debt among Credit Karma members broken out by generation

Over the last year — with the exception of the first quarter of 2024 — Gen Z has typically seen the highest quarter-over-quarter growth in total average debt. In the second quarter, Gen Z once again saw the highest growth among generations, though it was nominal (2.14%).

Average debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

From Q1 to Q2, the highest growth in total debt shifted from members with the highest credit scores to those in the subprime score band.

In the second quarter of 2024, approximately 83 million Credit Karma members with at least one credit card held a total of approximately $497.5 billion in credit card debt.

The average credit balance among members during the period of April to June 2024 once again remained nearly flat (1.77% increase) at $7,428, compared to $7,299 in January through March. The average next payment was $204.

Average credit card debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Gen X continued to have the most credit card debt in the second quarter of 2024 but Gen Z saw the highest increase in average credit card debt (3.21%), followed by Millennials (2.41%).

Average credit card debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

While members with subprime credit saw the largest increase in average card debt (1.88%) from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, members in the two higher score bands experienced the highest growth in average debt from Q1 to Q2 — 3.18% for super prime members and 3.10% for prime members.

In the second quarter of 2024, approximately 62 million Credit Karma members with at least one auto loan open held more than $947 billion in loan debt. The average next payment was $645.

For the second quarter in a row, the average auto loan balance among members remained nearly flat at $25,322 — a 0.11% increase from $25,295 in January through March 2024.

Average auto loan debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Average auto loan debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

In April through June 2024, approximately 32.7 million Credit Karma members with at least one mortgage held a total of more than $6.3 trillion in mortgage debt. The average mortgage balance among members was nearly flat at $259,407, a 0.61% increase from $257,840 in January to March 2024. The average next payment was $1,977.

Average mortgage debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Similar to last quarter, Millennials and Generation Z saw the biggest quarter-over-quarter increase in average mortgage debt, though growth slowed, from 2.02% and 2.01% to 0.71% and 1.64%, respectively.

Average mortgage debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

Despite seeing the biggest quarter-over-quarter increase in average mortgage debt in Q1, members in the highest score band saw the lowest growth in the second quarter, at just 0.23%. The highest increase in average mortgage debt took place among members in the subprime score band, though it was only 0.96%.

In the second quarter of 2024, approximately 30.7 million Credit Karma members with at least one student loan open held a total of nearly $733.8 billion across 80.3 million student loans. The average next payment was $106.

The average student loan balance among members in the second quarter of 2024 was $31,334, only a 0.22% increase from January to March 2024.

Average student loan debt among Credit Karma members by generation

Despite 4.7% year-over-year growth (fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 2023) in average student loan debt among Gen Z and 6.19% quarter-over-quarter growth in Q1, the increase from April to June dropped to 1%, suggesting that Gen Z is taking on student loan debt at a slower pace.

In fact, quarter-over-quarter increases in average student loan debt slowed across all generations (except Baby boomers, with a 1.09% increase in Q2 versus a 0.97% increase in Q1).

Average student loan debt among Credit Karma members by credit score band

The average VantageScore 3.0 credit score for Credit Karma members with debt was 678 in the second quarter of 2024, but the median was a little higher at 683. Both fall in the prime range. These scores are a decrease from that of members with debt in January to March 2024 — the average credit score then was 699, and the median was 718. The declines in average and median scores are due largely to increases in average debt across categories for members with scores in the subprime band.

Average VantageScore 3.0 score among Credit Karma members with debt by generation

For this report, accounts in collections are any credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical loan, auto lease or auto loan accounts that have been sent to collections agencies, according to their credit reports. Creditors may have different standards for when they transfer debt to collections, but the typical cutoff is 120 to 150 days past due. For this report, we’re able to determine if an account is in collections but not how many days past due it is.

Among Credit Karma members with accounts in collections, the average number of open accounts in April to June 2024 was 2.33 — slightly up from 2.28 in January to March 2024. Only members in the highest score band saw a quarter-over-quarter decrease (4%) in average open collection accounts.

Keep in mind that this measure only looks at members who have accounts in collections, not the Credit Karma member population as a whole. That means that it only captures people who are already potentially struggling with their finances.

Average number of accounts in collections among Credit Karma members by generation

Average number of accounts in collections by VantageScore 3.0 credit score band

For this report, credit inquiries are applications for new credit, such as credit cards or loans. During April to June 2024, Credit Karma members averaged 3.28 credit inquiries, nearly flat with 3.32 in January to March 2024.

The average number of inquiries dropped slightly across all score bands and generations, revealing that members continued to apply for fewer credit and loan products last quarter.

Average number of credit inquiries by Credit Karma members by VantageScore 3.0 credit score band

Average number of credit inquiries by Credit Karma members by generation

Methodology

This report drew on insights from the aggregated reports of roughly 88.5 million Credit Karma users. All aggregate data analyzed was pulled on July 5, 2024, and came from members’ TransUnion credit reports. Averages were based on information from the previous 90 days.