U.S. Household Debt Reaches $18.8 Trillion

U.S. household debt stood at $18.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, with auto-loan debt reaching a record high, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Elizabeth Schulze reported for ABC News.

U.S. household debt remains elevated, with mortgage and auto-loan balances accounting for much of the total.

Auto-loan debt rose to $1.71 trillion, while mortgage debt remained the largest component of household borrowing at about $13.12 trillion. Student-loan debt stood at about $1.65 trillion, while credit card debt totaled roughly $1.26 trillion. Home-equity lines of credit accounted for about $459 billion.

The New York Fed's household debt report is based on an anonymized, nationally representative sample drawn from Equifax credit-report data.