Total household debt in the United States increased by $185 billion, or 1%, during the second quarter of 2025, reaching a total of $18.39 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data. The findings are detailed in the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, which draws from data collected by the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel.
The report highlights steady growth across several categories of consumer debt. Mortgage balances rose by $131 billion to $12.94 trillion at the end of June 2025. Credit card balances increased by $27 billion to reach $1.21 trillion, while auto loan balances grew by $13 billion to a total of $1.66 trillion. Home equity line of credit (HELOC) balances climbed for the thirteenth consecutive quarter, rising by $9 billion to $411 billion. Student loan balances edged up by $7 billion and now stand at $1.64 trillion.
The pace of new lending also showed an uptick in some areas. There were $458 billion in newly originated mortgages in Q2 2025, while new auto loans and leases reported on credit files totaled $188 billion, an increase compared with the first quarter’s figure of $166 billion.
Aggregate limits on credit card accounts continued to rise as well, increasing by $78 billion—a 1.5% jump from the previous quarter.
Joelle Scally, Economic Policy Advisor at the New York Fed, commented on trends seen this quarter: “This quarter’s flow of household debt into serious delinquency was mixed across debt types, with credit card and auto loans holding steady, student loans continuing to rise, and mortgages edging up slightly,” she said. “Despite the recent uptick in mortgage delinquency, overall mortgage performance remains strong by historical standards.”
Delinquency rates remained elevated overall during Q2 2025: 4.4% of outstanding household debt was at some stage of delinquency. Transition into early delinquency held steady for most debt types except student loans; these saw another increase due largely to resumption of reporting missed payments that had not been previously disclosed between Q2 2020 and Q4 2024.
In terms of serious delinquency—defined as being at least 90 days late—the rates varied: student loan debt rose sharply from 0.80% in Q2 2024 to 12.88% in Q2 2025; mortgage delinquencies increased from 0.95% to 1.29%; HELOCs from 0.51% to 1.15%. Auto loan serious delinquencies held relatively stable (2.93%), as did those for credit cards (6.93%).
Additional resources related to housing and mortgage market trends are available through the Center for Microeconomic Data’s housing page on its website.
The New York Fed’s Household Debt and Credit Report provides quarterly insight into U.S consumer borrowing patterns using anonymized Equifax credit data drawn from a nationally representative sample.
“Despite the recent uptick in mortgage delinquency, overall mortgage performance remains strong by historical standards.” — Joelle Scally, Economic Policy Advisor at the New York Fed
“This quarter’s flow of household debt into serious delinquency was mixed across debt types, with credit card and auto loans holding steady, student loans continuing to rise, and mortgages edging up slightly.” — Joelle Scally
