ORLANDO, Fla. – According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York , U.S. credit card debt has climbed to $1.209 trillion in the second quarter of 2025, up 2.3% ($27 billion) from Q1, and 5.87% higher ($67 billion) than last year’s Q2 debt.

The country’s record high reliance on credit cards underscores how inflation and sluggish wage growth continue to take a toll on American budgets.

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In 2021, the data told a much different story.

As the nation navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve reported credit card balances below $500 billion (Q2 2021), before rising to $520 billion by July 2021 . That debt has been steadily climbing ever since. For those keeping score, Americans now owe $709 billion more on credit cards than in 2021, an increas

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