By Hugh Cameron
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Americans are carrying more debt than ever before, with household buckling under the weight of inflation and ballooning balances.
In late May, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealed that total household debt ticked up to an all-time high of $18.8 trillion in the first quarter, driven largely by increases in auto loan and mortgage balances.
Credit card debt, while below record levels, has also become cause for concern given rising delinquency rates. And new research from WalletHub reveals the cities with the highest and lowest amounts of credit card debt.
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Americans Battling Credit Card Debts
According to WalletHub’s calculations, consumers held $1.35 trillion in credit card debt at the end of 2026’s first quarter, equivalent to around $11,000 per household. This is $212 billion below the inflation-adjusted record set in 2008 during the financial crisis.
Separately, the New York Fed report found that total credit card balances have fallen by $25 billion to $1.25 trillion, though this figure remains over 60 percent higher compared with five years ago. And the upward trend has coincided with a recent increase in delinquency rates.
The percentage of credit card balances at least 90 days delinquent reached 13.1 percent in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from the final months of 2025 and now at its highest rate in 15 years.
Which Cities Have the Highest Credit Card Debt?
Drawing on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Fed and the credit reporting agency TransUnion, WalletHub researchers compared 182 of the country’s largest cities and ranked these according to their overall and per-capita levels of credit card debt.
With nearly $1.8 billion in total and an average household balance of $23,714, Santa Clarita, California, ranks as the city with the highest credit card debt in the nation. However, WalletHub notes the affluent city also ranks first when it comes to paying off debts, meaning the large balances may simply reflect the fact that residents “can afford to spend a lot.”
Many other Golden State cities rank within WalletHub’s top 10, with Santa Clarita being followed by Chula Vista—with an average debt of $20,778—and Pearl City, Hawaii, at $20,246.
Which Cities Have the Lowest Credit Card Debt?
On the other end of the scale, many of the least indebted cities are clustered in the Midwest where nominal household incomes tend to trail the coastal metros.
Among those included in WalletHub’s analysis, Lewiston, Maine, had the lowest average credit card debt at $9,185. Madison, Wisconsin, followed at $9,236, though its relative size meant the city still owes nearly $1.2 billion in total.
Based on the number of affluent cities—and those located in wealthy states—that round out the top of WalletHub’s rankings, researchers linked higher debt levels not to financial distress, but rather residents’ greater borrowing capacity.
“Cities where households owe the most credit card debt, like Santa Clarita and Chula Vista, California, as well as Pearl City, Hawaii have high median incomes, high debt payoff rates and low delinquency rates,” wrote WalletHub analyst John Kiernan. “This indicates that residents may simply have high credit card limits and can afford to borrow more.”
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