The Federal Reserve recently reported that credit card debt, or revolving debt, accounted for $1.02 trillion in November 2017. That is the highest level on record, without adjusting for inflation, dating back to December 2008. The Fed also reported that consumer borrowing grew 8.8%, the biggest gain in more than two years, as Americans charged close to $28 billion in credit card, student, auto and other debt.
Credit card debt alone jumped $11.2 billion, the most in a year, bringing the total outstanding consumer debt total to $3.83 trillion.
Spending continued through the holidays, as U.S. retailers saw holiday sales increase 4.9% in 2017 versus 2016, marking the biggest annual gain since 2011, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse data.
In a November survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Experian, consumers said they planned on spending an average of $740 to pay for holiday gift giving, up slightly from $734 in 2016. Another facilitator of this growth spurt came from online holiday spending, which increased 18.1% this year, according to the Mastercard data.
States with the most credit card debt in 2017
Alaska had the largest average credit card balance in 2017 among all states of $8,515, based on the 2017 Experian State of Credit data. Connecticut ranked second with an average credit card balance of $7,258, followed by Virginia with an average credit card balance of $7,161. New Jersey ranked fourth with an average credit card balance of $7,151 with Maryland rounding out the top five with a balance of $7,043.
States with the largest credit card balance increase
Alaska also ranked first in the largest year-over-year increase toward the average credit card balances growing by $402. North Dakota ranked second with a $364 increase to its average credit card balance, followed Hawaii with a $308 increase. Texas was fourth with $278 added and Wyoming ranked fifth, adding $231.
Cities with the most credit card debt in 2017
When it comes to the cities with the most credit card debt, Alaska is also home to the top three cities — Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau. Texas has five of the top ten cities—Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio — with Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, VA coming in at fourth and fifth, respectively.
1. Fairbanks, AK
Average credit card balance: $8,573
2. Anchorage, AK
Average credit card balance: $8,562
3. Juneau, AK
Average credit card balance: $8,277
4. Washington, D.C. (Hagerstown, MD)
Average credit card balance: $7,442
5. Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA
Average credit card balance: $7,359
6. Austin, TX
Average credit card balance: $7,292
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Average credit card balance: $7,171
8. New York
Average credit card balance: $7,145
9. Houston
Average credit card balance: $7,121
10. San Antonio
Average credit card balance: $7,070
Experian ranked more than 200 cities — if yours didn't make the top 10, you can find out how it ranked by visiting the full list on their site.
This article originally appeared on Experian.
Image: jacoblund
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