These States Have the Highest Amounts of Credit Card Debt

By Aaron Sarentino Reviewed by Minh Tong Updated Apr 18, 2018
These States Have the Highest Amounts of Credit Card Debt

Some states are reaching new heights — but not the kind to write home about. According to Experian’s latest State of Credit report, these are the states with highest debt and carried the highest average credit card balances in 2017:

State Average Credit Card Debt
Alaska $8,515
Connecticut $7,258
Virginia $7,161
New Jersey $7,151
Maryland $7,043
Hawaii $6,981
District of Columbia $6,963
Texas $6,902
Colorado $6,718
Georgia $6,675

From a macroeconomic standpoint, rising consumer debt is generally regarded as a positive economic trend. It reflects a boost in consumer confidence: When Americans earn more, they spend more too. Check out our article about the consumer debt in US and about credit card debt loans and the article about inflation and credit card debt.

However, in recent years, America’s collective credit card tab has been growing to an unsustainable level. In fact, it currently stands at $834 billion — just over $30 billion away from matching the highest total ever recorded, during the height of the Great Recession.

The states carrying the biggest debt loads are contributing significantly to that high. It’s just hard to identify which specific market forces are driving up a state’s average balance. The economic health of each state depends on a number of different factors, such as cost of living, unemployment rate and geographic location.

Consider Hawaii and Alaska, for instance. Both sit far from the mainland, which inflates the cost of importing goods and services for their residents, costs that are passed on to each consumer. Hawaii has the lowest unemployment rate among U.S. states and the highest cost of living. On the other hand, Alaska has both the sixth most expensive living costs and the highest unemployment rate. Even though they are similar in only two out of three categories, both are among the 10 states with the highest plastic debts.

Watch your credit card spending if you hail from a high-balance state. Even though averages represent the population as a whole — some consumers owe more than others — certain economic conditions in your home state may be enticing you to charge more to your plastic than you’d like. Learn more in this article how to get out of credit card debt and about the american credit card debt.


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Aaron Sarentino

Aaron oversees executive, administrative and management functions for the firm. Aaron has a Bachelors in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. He is responsible for helping customers at every stage of the debt settlement process and focused on building loyalty to ensure long-term client retention by addressing customer issues. Aaron plays a pivotal role in the upliftment of the Americor team to ensure the best possible customer experience for clients.