Texas consumers, slow down your spending. Texas is officially the second state with the biggest credit card debt increase.
A study by WalletHub showed which states have the highest debt averages. According to the study, consumers added $86.2 billion in new credit card debt during 2021. But by the second quarter of 2022, there has already been $67.1 billion increase, setting a new record. The outstanding credit debt spiked around 6% compared to the first quarter. This second quarter increase in credit card debt was 3.5 times higher than post-Great Recession average.
In Texas, the average household credit card debt is around $8,681 which has increased from $593. But in the state there is a grand total of $93,218,948,370 in debt due to credit card use. Texas’ average household debt is even higher than California's, which was ranked the highest average credit card debt holder. California’s average debt per household currently sits at $8,505. But Texas dropped down to second place because California has more total credit card debt in the entire state.
Some of the reasoning behind this high rate of credit card debt could be caused by inflation and recession concerns. WalletHub also predicts that the new debt will become more expensive with the Federal Reserve expected to raise its target rate by 75 points on September 21. They estimate that this raise will cost consumers an additional $5.3 billion in the next fiscal year.
But not all states are doing as bad as California and Texas. Wyoming and Vermont are at the bottom of the list and have the least amount of credit card debt.
WalletHub studies quarterly credit card debt by analyzing data on consumers’ finances through TransUnion, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
