Estimates of Americans’ debt burden abound, and unfortunately, they’re almost all different. But one thing is clear: Americans are carrying a lot of debt, especially millennials, according to Gallup analysis.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most surprising finding from Gallup’s analysis is just how few Americans account for that mountain of consumer debt. For example, three out of four U.S. adults (76%) report that they have at least one credit card, but, on average, Americans have 3.4 of them. The percentage of Americans who have credit cards is lowest among millennials (65%) and highest among traditionalists (85%), with Gen Xers (78%) and baby boomers (83%) in between.<\/p>\n
Though 76% of U.S. adults report having at least one credit card, just under half of Americans (48%) carry credit card debt, with fewer traditionalists (32%) and more Gen Xers (61%) carrying credit card debt. The Generation X finding isn’t surprising, given that they are in their prime child-rearing years and that they have more cards than any other group (4.5).<\/p>\n