Credit Card Interest Rate Statistics 2026: Average APR, Trends and Data

The average interest rate on US credit card accounts that pay interest was 22.36% in the third quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve's G.19 Consumer Credit release of October 7, 2026. Across all card accounts, including people who pay in full, the average stated APR was 21.19%. Both figures sit near the top of a series that starts in 1994.

That is the number to plan around if you carry a balance, and it is barely lower than the record. A finance team modeling household demand, or a reader deciding whether to pay down a card or invest, should treat 22% as the going cost of revolving debt in 2026, not as a temporary spike.

Every figure below is current as of Oct 2026 and links to the table it was read from on October 28, 2026. We used three public sources only: the Federal Reserve Board (rates), the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (balances and delinquency) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (new accounts). No survey of card offers, no issuer marketing rates.

Finpresso data: at the Fed's Q3 2026 rate for accounts assessed interest, a $6,000 balance paid down at $200 a month takes 45 months and costs $2,869.67 in interest. The same payoff at the end-2021 rate of 16.44% would have cost $1,780.40, so today's borrower pays $1,089.27 more for the same debt, by our arithmetic.

Key statistics at a glance

Statistic	Value	Period	Source
Average APR, accounts assessed interest	22.36%	Q3 2026	Federal Reserve G.19
Average APR, all card accounts	21.19%	Q3 2026	Federal Reserve G.19
Highest assessed-interest APR since 1994	23.37%	Q3 2024	Federal Reserve G.19 history
Lowest assessed-interest APR since 1994	11.96%	Q1 2003	Federal Reserve G.19 history
US credit card balances	$1.263 trillion	Q2 2026	New York Fed
Share of card balances 90+ days delinquent	12.92%	Q2 2026	New York Fed
Credit cards originated in one month	8.4 million	March 2026	CFPB
Interest on $6,000 at $200 a month	$2,869.67 over 45 months	Q3 2026 rate	Finpresso arithmetic

Five findings

1. Card APRs are flat at a high level. The rate on accounts paying interest has stayed between 21.52% and 22.83% in every quarter since the start of 2025. The record, 23.37%, was set in the third quarter of 2024.
2. The rate is down only slightly from a year ago. It fell 0.47 percentage points from the 22.83% of Q3 2025, by our arithmetic on the G.19 table.
3. Rates rose more than six points in under two years. The assessed-interest APR went from 16.17% in Q1 2022 to 22.77% in Q3 2023, and it has not come back down since.
4. Balances keep growing while delinquency stays elevated. Card debt reached $1.263 trillion in Q2 2026, and 12.92% of it was at least 90 days late, up from 12.27% a year earlier.
5. Lenders are still opening cards. The CFPB counted 8.4 million new credit cards in March 2026, an 11.9% increase on the year before.

What is the average credit card interest rate in 2026?

The Fed publishes two averages, and they answer different questions. The all accounts rate is the stated APR averaged across every card account at reporting banks. The accounts assessed interest rate divides the finance charges actually billed by the balances they were charged on, so it covers only cardholders who carry a balance.

For anyone who revolves debt, the second number is the useful one. In Q3 2026 it was 1.17 points above the all-accounts figure, our arithmetic, which suggests that people who pay interest tend to hold pricier cards or rate tiers than the average account holder, so the headline APR understates what a revolver pays.

Quarter	All accounts APR	Accounts assessed interest APR
Q1 2025	21.37%	21.91%
Q2 2025	21.16%	22.25%
Q3 2025	21.39%	22.83%
Q4 2025	20.97%	22.30%
Q1 2026	21.00%	21.52%
Q2 2026	20.94%	22.15%
Q3 2026	21.19%	22.36%

Source: Federal Reserve G.19 current release and G.19 terms of credit history, read October 28, 2026. The G.19 reports card rates once a quarter, in the middle month, so the Q3 2026 figure appears in the release's August column.

The release is a bank survey, not a price list. It reflects what reporting commercial banks charge across their existing books, so a new card offer can carry a higher or lower APR than the average. Your own statement shows the rate that applies to you.

How card interest rates have changed since 2021

The yearly averages in the same Fed release show how fast the cost of carrying a balance rose. In 2021 a revolving account paid 16.45% on average. By 2024 that was 22.89%, the highest yearly average in the table, before a small easing in 2025.

Year	All accounts APR	Accounts assessed interest APR
2021	14.60%	16.45%
2022	16.26%	17.91%
2023	20.90%	22.15%
2024	21.58%	22.89%
2025	21.22%	22.32%

Source: yearly columns of the G.19 release, read October 28, 2026.

The longer view makes 2026 look even more unusual. In the quarterly history that starts in Q4 1994, the assessed-interest rate bottomed at 11.96% in Q1 2003 and peaked at 23.37% in Q3 2024. Today's reading is within about one point of that peak and nearly double the low.

The policy rate moved too. On September 16, 2026 the Federal Open Market Committee raised its target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4%. The next quarterly card readings will show how much of that reaches card pricing; for background on the decision, see our coverage of the Fed's first hike in three years and the run-up to the first hike under Chair Warsh.

How much credit card debt do Americans carry?

US households owed $1.263 trillion on credit cards in Q2 2026, according to the New York Fed's Household Debt and Credit data for that quarter. That is up $21 billion from Q1 2026 and $54 billion from Q2 2025, a 4.5% rise in a year, our arithmetic. The high point so far was $1.277 trillion in Q4 2025.

Measure (New York Fed, Q2 2026)	Value
Credit card balances	$1.263 trillion
Total credit card limits	$5.559 trillion
Available credit on cards	$4.296 trillion
Credit card accounts	653.63 million
Total household debt, all types	$18.77 trillion
Card share of household debt	6.7% (our arithmetic)

Americans use about 22.7% of their available card limits in aggregate, which is the balance divided by total limits, our arithmetic. In aggregate, borrowers are far from their limits, although that average hides individual cardholders who are close to maxed out.

The account count needs one caveat. The New York Fed notes that joint accounts are counted twice, so 653.63 million overstates the number of distinct cards in wallets. It is still useful as a trend: the figure was 636.03 million a year earlier.

The Fed's G.19 tells a similar story with a different measure. Seasonally adjusted revolving credit, which is mostly card debt, stood at $1,352.4 billion in August 2026, and it fell at a 4.2% annual rate that month. One month is noisy, so read it alongside the New York Fed's quarterly balance rather than as a turn in the trend.

How many cardholders fall behind on payments?

Delinquency is the other half of the interest-rate story, because a high APR makes a late balance grow faster. In Q2 2026, 12.92% of card balances were 90 or more days late, according to the New York Fed. That share was 13.12% in Q1 2026 and 12.27% in Q2 2025.

Card delinquency measure (New York Fed)	Q2 2025	Q1 2026	Q2 2026
Share of card balances 90+ days late	12.27%	13.12%	12.92%
Card balances newly 30+ days late	8.58%	8.61%	8.69%
Card balances newly 90+ days late	6.93%	7.10%	6.97%

Source: New York Fed Household Debt and Credit data, Q2 2026, pages 12 to 14 of the workbook, read October 28, 2026.

The flow into serious delinquency is the early warning to watch. At 6.97% of balances in Q2 2026, it was well above the 5.32% recorded in Q4 2019, before the pandemic. For a lender or a finance team forecasting charge-offs, that gap matters more than any single quarter's wiggle.

How many new credit cards are being opened?

The CFPB's credit card market dashboard shows lenders still writing new accounts at a healthy clip. Card issuers opened 8.4 million general-purpose credit cards in March 2026, with $48.9 billion in total credit limits attached to them.

That works out to an average limit of about $5,821 per new card, our arithmetic on the CFPB figures, which is close to the balance used in the payoff scenario below. Originations were up 11.9% year over year in March, while the number of consumers applying (credit card inquiries) was down 14.8% year over year in July 2026, and the CFPB's credit tightness index was down 1.3% year over year in May.

Read together, and allowing for the different months, fewer people are applying while more of those applications turn into new cards. That fits a market where lenders are comfortable growing card books at today's rates.

What a $6,000 balance costs at today's average APR

At the Q3 2026 assessed-interest rate, a balance of that size accrues about $111.80 of interest in its first month, and $1,341.60 over a year if the balance never moves. The real cost depends on how fast you pay it down, so we ran four monthly payments through the Fed's Q3 2026 rate and through two historical comparison points.

Monthly payment	Rate used	Months to pay off	Total interest
$150	22.36% (Q3 2026)	75	$5,113.30
$200	22.36% (Q3 2026)	45	$2,869.67
$300	22.36% (Q3 2026)	26	$1,577.39
$200	21.19% (Q3 2026, all accounts)	44	$2,620.84
$200	16.44% (Q4 2021)	39	$1,780.40
$200	23.37% (Q3 2024 peak)	46	$3,101.31

The arithmetic is ours: the APR divided by 12, applied to the balance each month, with no new purchases, fees or rate changes. Issuers usually charge a daily rate on the average daily balance, so a statement will differ by a few dollars.

The payment size matters more than the rate. Going from $150 to $300 a month cuts the interest bill by $3,535.91, while the whole move from the 2021 rate to today adds $1,089.27 at $200 a month. A borrower who can raise the payment gets a bigger saving than one waiting for rates to fall.

The scenario also shows why the minimum payment is a trap. At $150 a month the interest reaches about 85% of the original balance, and the debt takes more than six years to clear. For tools that help structure a paydown, see our budgeting app prices comparison and the EveryDollar vs YNAB matchup; the directory pages are YNAB on Toolradar and Monarch Money on Toolradar.

What this means for finance teams and business owners

Consumer card rates feed straight into two business questions: what your customers can afford, and what your own card spend costs. A merchant selling on installments or financing competes with a 22% card rate, so even a modest promotional rate is a strong pitch at today's level.

On the business side, corporate and small-business cards are a different product with their own terms, and the G.19 averages do not cover them. Our best corporate cards ranking compares those, and the cost of accepting cards from customers is in credit card processing fees 2026 and the best credit card processing companies. For tools that track spending and debt across accounts, see AI for personal finance.

If you want rate decisions and consumer credit data in your inbox, the Finpresso newsletter is at finpresso.com.

How we compiled this

Rates come from the Federal Reserve Board's G.19 Consumer Credit release dated October 7, 2026, and its terms-of-credit history table, both read on October 28, 2026. Balances, limits, account counts and delinquency come from the New York Fed's Q2 2026 Household Debt and Credit data workbook, built on the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, read the same day. New-account figures come from the CFPB's credit card dashboard, last modified October 15, 2026. The policy rate comes from the FOMC statement of September 16, 2026.

Year-over-year changes, utilization, the card share of household debt, the average new-card limit and the payoff table are our arithmetic on those published figures. We will refresh this page when the Fed publishes its next quarterly card rate and the New York Fed publishes its next quarterly report. Sourcing and corrections rules are in the editorial policy.

FAQ

What is the average credit card interest rate in 2026?

The Federal Reserve's G.19 release puts the average APR on credit card accounts assessed interest at 22.36% in Q3 2026, and the average across all card accounts at 21.19%. The first figure is the one that applies to people who carry a balance from month to month.

Is 22% a high credit card interest rate?

By historical standards, yes. The Fed's quarterly series, which starts in 1994, ranges from a low of 11.96% in Q1 2003 to a high of 23.37% in Q3 2024, and the Q3 2026 rate for accounts paying interest sits within about a point of that high.

Are credit card interest rates going up or down in 2026?

They are roughly flat. The rate on accounts assessed interest stayed within about a point, from 21.52% to its Q3 level, across the first three quarters of 2026, and it was 0.47 points lower in Q3 2026 than in Q3 2025. The Fed raised its policy range by a quarter point on September 16, 2026, which later card readings will reflect.

How much credit card debt do Americans have?

The New York Fed reports $1.263 trillion in US credit card balances in Q2 2026, up 4.5% from a year earlier by our arithmetic. Balances peaked at $1.277 trillion in Q4 2025, and cards make up about 6.7% of total household debt of $18.77 trillion.

What percentage of credit card debt is delinquent?

In Q2 2026, 12.92% of US card balances were 90 or more days late, according to the New York Fed, slightly below 13.12% in Q1 2026 and above 12.27% a year earlier. The share of balances newly moving into serious delinquency was 6.97% in the quarter.

How much interest will I pay on a $6,000 credit card balance?

At the Fed's Q3 2026 average for accounts assessed interest, paying $200 a month clears the balance in 45 months with $2,869.67 of interest, by our arithmetic. Paying $300 a month cuts that to 26 months and $1,577.39. Your own APR and the issuer's daily-balance method will change the exact figure.

What is the difference between APR and the rate on accounts assessed interest?

The Fed's all-accounts figure averages the stated APR on every card, including accounts that never pay interest. The accounts-assessed-interest figure is total finance charges divided by the balances they were charged on, so it measures what revolvers actually pay. In Q3 2026 the second was 1.17 points higher.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Card APRs, fees and penalty rates vary by issuer and by cardholder, so confirm the terms on your own card agreement or with your issuer before you decide how to pay down a balance.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Credit Card Interest Rate Statistics 2026: Average APR, Trends and Data", November 2026.

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