A new analysis shows that credit card debt in Ohio and elsewhere continues to grow — another indicator that average people’s financial security continues to diminish as affordability and income inequality become increasingly potent issues.
A WalletHub analysis published earlier this month found that in nominal terms, Americans had the greatest credit card debt in history during the third quarter of 2025 — $1.35 trillion.
When adjusted for inflation, it was exceeded in the third quarter of 2008 — as the Great Recession hit — when it was 8% greater.
In addition, the report said, credit card finance charges increased 36% from a pre-pandemic high in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $180 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The findings were based on data from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The news comes after a November analysis found that Ohioans’ credit-card delinquencies were rising at the fifth-highest rate in the United States.
With 20% of credit cards delinquent in the second quarter of 2025, Ohio saw an increase of 29% over a year earlier.
The median credit card debt for an Ohioan is $2,476.
The growth in credit-card debt and delinquencies indicates that for many consumers, the U.S. economy is not in a good place.
“The fact that the record amount of credit card debt we currently owe isn’t really an inflation-adjusted record probably won’t do much to make consumers feel better, John Kiernan of WalletHub said in a written statement.
“We still have a ton of debt, and it remains extremely expensive — as do prices in general — with no savings in sight.”
Urging people with debt to budget carefully, he added, ”Nearly two in five people are already resigned to having even more credit card debt by the end of 2026…, and 42% of people expect to have credit card debt for their entire life.”
As the 2026 election year takes shape, issues such as affordability and inequality are likely to play a major role.
A New York Times-Siena University poll published on Thursday said that 64% of respondents disapproved of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.
That was the second-highest level of disapproval he received on any issue.
Sixty-eight percent disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.
A Gallup poll conducted at the end of December found that Americans’ economic confidence had slipped to lows not seen since the depths of the pandemic.
Two-thirds of Gallup respondents picked issues such as inflation, the cost of housing, low wages, health care costs, and debt as their most pressing issues.
Health care is a leading cause of economic anxiety.
The December KFF Health Tracking Poll found that just under half of Americans have difficulty affording care, and that 36% reported putting off care in the prior year due to worries about affordability.
And as credit-card debt grows, large majorities of Americans are saying income inequality is a problem.
A YouGov poll published earlier this month found that 80% of respondents believed the gap between the rich and poor was a very big or somewhat big problem.
That includes 60% of self-identified MAGA Republicans and 57% of those who identify as very conservative.