Consumer Credit: Who Owes What in the U.S.?

Looking at who owes what in the United States, middle-aged Americans hold the most household debt. In Q3 2025, people between 30 and 49 years old held roughly half of all household debt, with those in the 40 to 49 age group accounting for 26 percent of the total debt balance.

Considering that mortgage debt accounts for 70 percent of total household debt, this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. After all, many people take out a mortgage to buy a house when they’re in their thirties. And even if they’re younger than that, they’ll likely pay off their mortgage through the next decades, which are people’s main earning years. Underlining this, those aged 18 to 29 only held 4 percent of mortgage debt in Q3 2025.

Still among young adults, mortgage debt was the largest chunk of the overall debt balance, though to a lesser degree than for older age groups. Among those aged 18 to 29, mortgages accounted for 53 percent of overall debt in Q3 2025, compared to around 70 percent for all other age groups. Unsurprisingly, student loans carry a larger weight for those under 30, accounting to 28 percent of young Americans’ total debt.