After growing 81.5% over 20 years, household debt is at a historic high

As everyday Americans’ budgets continue to sag under the weight of inflation and elevated interest rates, a new study by The Kaplan Group shows how household debt has grown over the past two decades to reach an all-time high.

The study looked at state-level household debt figures, including auto loans, mortgages, credit cards, and student loans collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2023.

Kaplan’s analysis found Americans’ total debt grew by 81.5% in 20 years, with student loan debt quadrupling since 2003. Auto loans, mortgages, and student loans are at an all-time high, coming off the back of a growing debt burden that’s outpaced inflation over the past two decades.

Credit card debt bucked that broad trend, Kaplan found, as it grew minimally since 2023. From 2010 to 2016, it actually went below its 2003 baseline.

Mortgages were hands down the leading form of debt saddling Americans, according to the analysis, as it made up three-quarters of their total burden. Student loans and auto loans, meanwhile, were at an almost-draw for second place.

Viewing debt through a geographic lens, the study found the District of Columbia was the top debt hotspot, with the amount of debt growing at a blistering pace. According to the study, the amount of debt in DC more than doubled since 2003, and its residents are significantly underwater with over $100,000 in debt.

That figure is nearly three times the amount carried by a typical resident of West Virginia, which Kaplan found had the lowest amount of debt.

Looking at debt increases on a percentage basis, Michigan’s debt burden grew at the most sluggish pace over the past 20 years, followed by Ohio and Illinois.