Total Household Debt Rose 0.5% to Over $18 Trillion in Q4 2024

Washington, DC, March 31, 2025-"The latest consumer debt data from the Federal Reserve is ringing alarm bells,” reports Builder Online. “By the end of 2024, total household debt surpassed $18.0 trillion, marking a 0.5% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) increase and a 3.0% increase year over year (YOY).

“While the higher nominal debt levels tend to grab headlines, it is always important to contextualize the increase. For example, after adjusting for inflation using the CPI (1982-1984 base year), real household debt stood at $5.7 trillion, showing relative stability both QOQ (-0.04%) and YOY (+0.02%).

“Among all the debt categories analyzed-mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, student loans, other loans, and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs)-credit cards stood out with some alarming trends.

“Total credit card debt reached a record-high of $1.21 trillion. This was up 7.2% YOY and 30.6% from 2019. When we adjusted for inflation, total real credit card debt was $381.29 billion. This is a level we haven’t reached since Q2 2009 ($385.94 billion).”