Average American Debt by Age in 2025

Generation Z Still Getting Started With Credit, Purchases

While much of Generation Z is reflected in Experian data, this view doesn't quite represent the entire generation because some Gen Zers don't yet have a credit file. Many of the members of this youngest generation of consumers are still working their way to a point where they can, for example, apply for an auto loan or get their first credit card. It's not surprising, then, that most Gen Zers who have any credit history have a credit card—more than 90%, as of June 2025.

But that's where their similarity with older consumers ends. Generation Z still doesn't have much overall debt: Only about 40% of Gen Zers have a car loan they're currently paying down, compared to more than two-thirds of millennials and Gen Xers, and just 8% of Gen Zers have a mortgage to pay.

Apart from credit cards, student loan debt is the only other debt type Gen Zers carry at levels comparable to other generations. Gen Zers owe more than $21,000 in student loans on average in June 2025, with 15% having a student loan in their credit report. So it's not surprising that their total average debt of $34,000 is much lower than other generations—for now.

Source: Experian data from June of each year

Millennial Debt Levels Beat Overall U.S. Average

In contrast to their younger counterparts, millennials are awash with debt that's already higher than the overall average at $132,280 and climbing. Millennials are more likely than not to be making payments on credit cards (78% of millennials with a credit history have a balance) and auto loans (68%).

Much has been written about millennials being shut out of homeownership, with only 37% of millennial consumers currently paying down a mortgage—a smaller share than older generations. But those payments are often higher than what more seasoned homeowners are paying. With the highest average mortgage balance of any generation at $320,000, they likely have higher interest payments on top of higher purchase prices if they recently purchased their property.

Similarly, although only 15% of millennials have student loan payments (the same percentage as Generation Z), those payments are likely now higher, due to changes in student loan repayment plans, as well as having much larger student loan balances. Student loan balances average $33,000 for millennials with student loan debt, versus $21,000 for Generation Z student loan debt.

Source: Experian data from June of each year

Generation X Owe the Most, and It's Not Even Close

Gen Xers owe more than $158,000 on average. That's more than the balances of all other generations, and more than 50% higher than average debts of all consumers. The only silver lining is that their balances are beginning to decline slightly.

But many of this generation are running out of runway, as they have fewer working years to pay down these debts. This may explain why personal loans are used by this generation more than others, as they offer credit-worthy consumers to refinance current debts at more favorable rates. Balance transfer credit cards are also a way some consumers can receive low or temporarily no interest on existing credit card balances they transfer to the new card.

Source: Experian data from June of each year

Average Baby Boomer Debt Continues to Decline

Consumer debt among baby boomers has slowly declined over the past decade. Consumers in their 60s and 70s generally spend less on consumer purchases than they did earlier in their lives, and increasingly devote more of their incomes to health care. There's generally less overall debt among them, however. With total average debt under $93,000, baby boomers owe less than younger generations on average. Meanwhile, baby boomers own nearly double the assets of the next-wealthiest generation (Generation X), according to the 2025 UBS Global Wealth Report, while comprising much less than half the overall consumer population.

Baby boomers are the generation most likely to have home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) in their credit mix—19.5% as of June 2025, according to Experian data. They're prime candidates for this type of loan, as the homeowners among them have had more time to accumulate home equity.

Source: Experian data from June of each year

Silent Generation Debt Is Relatively Low

Consumers ages 80 and older only make up about 1% of the total consumer population, and only manage a fraction of the debt that working-age consumers do. They are also likely to have very different credit mixes than other generations—more health care costs, but perhaps less spending in other categories.

Source: Experian data from June of each year

The Bottom Line

Not every U.S. consumer has multiple types of debt, but many do, and the costs of financing homes, cars and other goods and services that accept credit cards for payments mean that many owe multiple types of debt simultaneously. Most consumers (for now) are able to keep up with their monthly mortgage payments, pay down car loans and make payments on their credit card balances.