With the rising cost of housing, food, gas, transportation and medical care, more Americans are now falling deeper into debt as median incomes fell 3% over the last two years, according to NerdWallet’s annual study on credit card and other forms of household debt.
In its 2021 American Household Credit Card Debt Study, NerdWallet found that U.S. households are a collective $15.24 trillion in debt, representing a 6.2% increase from 2020 to 2021.
Some 70% of that debt represents mortgage debt which increased by 8.22%, the sharpest rise in any kind of debt measured in the study.
Credit card balances carried from month to month was the only kind of debt that fell over the period and it was by a strong 4% in 2021. All credit card balances, not just those carried over from one month to the next, were shown to be steadily increasing. Auto loans jumped by 6.1% over the period, while student loans increased 2.46%.
More than a third of respondents, said in the last year their finances had gotten worse. Some 38% of this group blamed their situation on decreased household income, while 36% said their expenses had increased. Another 21% said their income was impacted by job loss.