Total Household Debt: $20692.86TT in Q3 2025
The household debt moved to $20,692.86T in Q3 2025, up 207389.00 from $20,485.47T in Q2 2025. Year-over-year, the reading is up 326612.00 from $20,366.24T.
Household Debt - Historical Chart
Households and Nonprofit Organizations; Debt Securities and Loans; Liability, Level. Gray shaded areas indicate U.S. recessions.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), Series CMDEBT. Shaded areas = NBER recession dates. Updated 2026-03-10.
What the Q3 2025 Data Shows
At $20,692.86T, the household debt in Q3 2025 is above the 10-year average of $17,218.36T by 3474501.05. The trend is upward, with increases in 3 of the last 4 quarters.
Total household debt (FRED series CMDEBT) measures the credit market obligations of households and nonprofit organizations. Mortgages dominate, accounting for roughly 70% of the total. The remainder includes auto loans, student loans, credit card balances, and personal installment loans.
Household debt deleveraged after the 2008 financial crisis as families defaulted, paid down balances, and lenders tightened underwriting. It began climbing again around 2013 and has been setting new records, driven by rising home prices (larger mortgages) and a return to pre-crisis consumer borrowing patterns.
Data is quarterly from the Z.1 Financial Accounts, reported in billions of dollars.
What This Metric Measures
This page tracks the total credit market debt outstanding for households and nonprofit organizations, including home mortgages, consumer credit (auto, student, credit card), and other loans. The data comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database, series CMDEBT, updated quarterly.
Historical Context
The all-time peak was $20,692.86T in Q3 2025. The all-time trough was $29.44T in Q4 1945. During COVID-19 in 2020, the reading hit $16,616.35T (Q4 2020). Year-over-year, the metric has moved 1.6%.
Why It Matters
For small business owners, household debt is personal. Most small business loans require a personal guarantee, which means your household balance sheet backs your business obligations. When household debt is high and rates rise, the combined burden of business debt service and personal mortgage/auto/card payments can become crushing. The FRED data shows the aggregate picture, but the pain is felt one family at a time.
What This Means for Business Owners
Understanding where this metric stands relative to historical norms helps business owners make better borrowing decisions. Metrics far from their 10-year average often signal turning points that affect the cost and availability of credit.
Total Household Debt - Frequently Asked Questions
Total household debt is approximately $20692857.00 trillion as of Q3 2025, per FRED series CMDEBT. Roughly 70% is mortgage debt, with the rest split among auto loans, student loans, credit cards, and other consumer credit.
In nominal dollars, yes. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, the picture is more nuanced. Debt-to-disposable-income ratios have been lower than the 2007 peak because income has grown alongside debt.
Mortgages, by far. Roughly $12-13 trillion of total household debt is mortgage debt. Student loans are about $1.7 trillion, auto loans about $1.6 trillion, and credit card balances about $1.1 trillion.
Two channels. First, most small business owners personally guarantee their business loans, so personal debt reduces their capacity to borrow for the business. Second, when aggregate household debt burdens are high, consumers cut discretionary spending, which reduces small business revenue.
Nominal household debt is higher now than in 2008, but as a share of disposable income it is lower because incomes grew. The composition has also shifted: less subprime mortgage debt, more student loan and auto debt. The current debt profile is arguably healthier.
FRED series CMDEBT from the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1 release). Quarterly, in billions of dollars. Covers households and nonprofit organizations.
Related Data & Guides
Data sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Updated monthly when new data is released.