American's Use of Credit

Ever wonder how your credit use measures up to the rest of the nation? This will give you some idea of where you stand.

On average, Americans have 13 credit obligations, including credit cards and installment loans such as mortgages, car loans and student loans. Of these, 9 are likely to be credit cards and the remainder installment loans.

In general, most consumers pay their bills on time.

Fewer than half have ever been reported 30 days or more late on a payment

30% have ever been 60 days late on a payment
Less than 25% have had a loan or account go 90+ days overdue

Under 20% of consumers have had an account closed by the lender due to default

Regarding their utilization of credit, Americans are split.
48% have less than $5,000 in debt including credit cards, car loans, lines of credit, but not including mortgages

On the other hand, almost 37% carry more than $10,000 in non-mortgage debt

Although the typical consumer has access to about $19,000 in credit card credit lines, more than half of them use less than 30% of their available credit. Just over 1 in 7 are using 80% or more of their credit limit.

The average consumer has been managing credit for some time.
The length of the typical credit history is 14 years.

25% have had credit for 20 years or more

Only 5% have credit histories shorter than 2 years

The average consumer has only one inquiry on their credit record within the past year, and fewer than 6% have 4 or more within the year.