NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today issued its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The report shows total household debt increased by $167 billion (0.9%) in Q1 2025, to $18.20 trillion. The report is based on data from the New York Fed’s nationally representative Consumer Credit Panel. It includes a one-page summary of key takeaways and their supporting data points.
The New York Fed also issued an accompanying Liberty Street Economics blog post examining student loan delinquency, including which borrowers were past due in the first quarter and implications for their access to other credit.
“Transition rates into serious delinquency have leveled off for credit card and auto loans over the past year,” said Daniel Mangrum, Research Economist at the New York Fed. “However, the first batch of past due student loans were reported in the first quarter of 2025, resulting in a large jump in seriously delinquent borrowers.”
Credit card balances fell by $29 billion from the previous quarter and stood at $1.18 trillion at the end of March 2025. Auto loan balances also declined by $13 billion, representing the second drop from one subsequent quarter since 2011, and totaled $1.64 trillion. Mortgage balances grew by $199 billion and stood at $12.80 trillion. HELOC balances rose by $6 billion to $402 billion, representing the twelfth consecutive quarterly increase. Student loan balances grew by $16 billion and now stand at $1.63 trillion. Other balances, which include retail cards and other consumer loans, fell by $12 billion.
The pace of mortgage originations increased slightly, with $426 billion newly originated mortgages in Q1 2025. Aggregate limits on credit card accounts increased moderately by $77 billion, representing a 1.5% increase from the previous quarter.
Aggregate delinquency rates increased from the previous quarter, with 4.3% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency. Transition into early delinquency held steady for nearly all debt types, with the exception of student loans. Student loans saw a large uptick in the rate at which balances went from current to delinquent due to the resumption of reporting of delinquent student loans on credit reports after a nearly five-year pause due to the pandemic. Transition into serious delinquency remained stable for auto loans, credit cards, and other debt.
Student Loans
- Outstanding student loan debt increased slightly and stood at $1.63 trillion in Q1 2025.
- Missed federal student loan payments that were not previously reported to credit bureaus between Q2 2020 and Q4 2024 are now appearing in credit reports. Consequently, 7.74% of aggregate student debt was reported 90+ days delinquent in Q1 2025, compared to less than 1% reported in Q4 2024.
Household Debt and Credit Developments as of Q1 2025
| Category | Quarterly Change* (Billions $) |
Annual Change** (Billions $) | Total As of Q1 2025 (Trillions $) |
| Mortgage Debt | (+) $199 | (+) $362 | $12.804 |
| Home Equity Line of Credit | (+) $6 | (+) $26 | $0.402 |
| Student Debt | (+) $16 | (+) $36 | $1.631 |
| Auto Debt | (-) $13 | (+) $26 | $1.642 |
| Credit Card Debt | (-) $29 | (+) $67 | $1.182 |
| Other | (-) $12 | (-) $1 | $0.542 |
| Total Debt | (+) $167 | (+) $516 | $18.203 |
*Change from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025
** Change from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025
Flow into Serious Delinquency (90 days or more delinquent)
| Category1 | Q1 2024 | Q1 2025 |
| Mortgage Debt | 0.92% | 1.22% |
| Home Equity Line of Credit | 0.52% | 0.88% |
| Student Loan Debt | 0.80% | 8.04% |
| Auto Loan Debt | 2.78% | 2.94% |
| Credit Card Debt | 6.86% | 7.04% |
| Other | 5.43% | 5.44% |
| ALL | 1.54% | 2.45% |
About the Report
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report provides unique data and insight into the credit conditions and activity of U.S. consumers. Based on data from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data, the report provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans, and delinquencies. The report aims to help community groups, small businesses, state and local governments, and the public to better understand, monitor, and respond to trends in borrowing and indebtedness at the household level. Sections of the report are presented as interactive graphs on the New York Fed’s Household Debt and Credit Report webpage and the full report is available for download.
