Total Household Debt

It is the headline total from the New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. It uses the Consumer Credit Panel, a national sample drawn from Equifax credit bureau records, not a survey with interviews. It covers people with Social Security numbers on credit reports, plus household members at the same address, since Q1 1999.

The Research and Statistics Group compiles it in the Center for Microeconomic Data, from administrative credit records. The database holds about 44 million records each quarter. Figures are nominal, with no seasonal adjustment and no official target.

Each release snapshots credit report balances at the end of each calendar quarter. It arrives about 5 to 7 weeks later, on a weekday with no fixed time. It includes a press release with change tables, a full report PDF, and downloadable data with interactive charts. A topical Liberty Street Economics blog post and annual state data for all 50 states plus Puerto Rico round it out.

Memo items such as originations, foreclosures, bankruptcies, collections, and credit scores sit outside the total. Footnotes flag exceptions such as reporting gaps, and revisions follow no preset schedule, with corrections absorbed into later quarters.

Mortgages drive most moves; five smaller parts cover home equity, cars, cards, school loans, and other credit.

• Mortgage debt: primary and other home loan balances, the largest share.
• Home equity lines of credit (HELOC): revolving home-equity credit drawn as needed.
• Student loans: federal and private study balances reported to bureaus, reliable only from 2003.
• Auto loans: car loans and leases.
• Credit-card debt: statement balances across cards, mixing full payers with revolvers.
• Other: retail cards, consumer finance installment loans, and unclassified debts, including Buy Now, Pay Later loans only when reported to bureaus.

In Q2 2023, total debt rose $16B (+0.1%) to $17.06T, up $2.9T since end-2019, as flat mortgages offset card growth. Mortgages, about 70% of the total, stood almost unchanged at $12.01T after a temporary servicing-transfer reporting gap. Card balances jumped $45B (+4.6%) to $1.03T, the first $1T reading in the series, while auto and other debt rose and student loans fell.

Total delinquency looked flat at 2.7%, yet new card and auto transitions stood above 2019 levels. Serious flows reached 5.08% for cards, 2.41% for autos, 0.63% for mortgages, and 1.16% overall, so readers watch parts and flows, not only the headline.

1. Draw the panel: Select a 5% random sample using 5 fixed Social Security number endings, plus household members at sampled addresses. The same people stay in the panel each quarter, while newcomers join and leavers drop out.
2. Read balances: Record end of quarter balances by loan type from each Equifax credit report.
3. Split joint accounts: Assign 50% of each shared joint balance to each holder for individual totals. Per-capita figures divide sample totals by the number of people in the sample.
4. Scale to the nation: Multiply primary sample totals by 20 and weight household estimates by household size. A household with N members carries weight 1/(1-0.95^N). For example, $853B in sample scales to $17.06T nationally.
5. Add components: Sum mortgage, home equity, student, auto, card, and other balances in nominal dollars with no seasonal adjustment.
6. Track changes and stress: Quarterly change subtracts the prior quarter total, while annual change subtracts the same quarter one year earlier. Stress divides balances newly 90 or more days late by balances current or under 90 days late the prior quarter. Balances fall into current, 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, and 120-day-or-later buckets, with 90 or more days late meaning seriously delinquent.