Americans are known for racking up credit-card debt, but just how much we have in total is shocking. At the beginning of 2019, Americans owed over $1 trillion in credit-card debt. And though we repaid $38.2 billion in the first quarter of the year, we’re projected to have a $70 billion net increase by the end of the year.
Americans aren’t all in the same boat when it comes to credit-card debt, though. People in some states are better than others when it comes to avoiding charging more than they can afford. To determine which states have the least and most sustainable credit-card debts, WalletHub drew upon TransUnion credit data to calculate the cost and time required to pay off the median card balances of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read on for the full findings, commentary from a panel of experts and a detailed description of our methodology.