New household debt reached $398 billion by the end of 2022, according to a report from WalletHub.
02/21/2023 3:05 P.M.
1.5 minute read
A new WalletHub study gauging quarterly household debt found that Americans ended 2022 with roughly $320 billion more in total debt than they started with—59% more than the average annual increase over the past 18 years. As a result, U.S. households collectively owed $17 trillion to start 2023.
The report comes as inflation and Federal Reserve rate hikes continue to put pressure on household budgets and strain Americans’ pockets.
Key findings from the survey include:
- “Consumers added a total of $398 billion in new debt during Q4 2022—the fourth highest build-up for a fourth quarter in the past 20 years and nearly 4.5 times larger than Q4 2021.
- Total household debt grew to $17 trillion in 2022—roughly $1 trillion below WalletHub’s projected breaking point, based on debt levels during the Great Recession.
- The average household owed a total of $142,680 at the end of 2022, only $11,710 below WalletHub’s projected breaking point for household finances.
- Household mortgage debt increased by $290 billion in 2022, the second highest annual increase since the end of the Great Recession.
- In Q4 2022, debt from home equity lines of credit (HELOC) increased by $14 billion, the second consecutive increase after a string of 22 consecutive quarterly paydowns.
- Auto loan debt decreased by $106 million in 2022—the second annual paydown in a row after a decade of increases from 2011 through 2020.
- Total student loan debt decreased by $83 billion in 2022—the second biggest paydown since 2003.”
WalletHub’s quarterly household debt report is based on analysis of the latest data on consumer finances available from the New York Federal Reserve and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Read more findings from the survey here.
Related Content from ACA International:
WalletHub Reports Credit Card Debt Increase, Flags Cities with Least Sustainable Debt
WalletHub Survey Finds 86% of Students Feel Uncertain About Their Financial Futures
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