Utah households have piled on debt at a pace that outstrips almost every other state in the country, with total household debt climbing 34% since 2019 — well above the roughly 23% national increase over the same stretch. Credit card balances have grown even faster in Utah, and the share of those balances going seriously unpaid has risen by about 62%.
The 34% figure comes from KSL, which reported that only Idaho, among Utah's neighboring states, saw a bigger jump in household debt since 2019. Utah credit card debt specifically rose 34.4% over that period, compared with 28.3% nationally, per the same report. And delinquency has worsened alongside the borrowing: 9.45% of Utah credit card balances are now at least 90 days past due, up from 5.84% in 2019.
Why Utahns Are Borrowing More
Shane Stewart, a financial planning professor at Utah Valley University, told KSL that housing costs are something nearly everyone in the state is feeling, and that the topic has drawn plenty of headlines. He noted that borrowing to buy a home can help build wealth, but it can also leave a buyer financially burdened — and buying a home in Utah is expensive. Stewart added that people do feel like they're able to take on more debt for both needs and wants right now.
Stewart also pointed to consumer psychology as a factor, saying consumer sentiment can be powerful when people feel their jobs and the economy are secure. In other words, when Utahns sense the state's economy is on solid footing, they appear more willing to take on debt — a dynamic Stewart described as part of the current picture, according to the same report.
How Utah Stacks Up Nationally
A separate analysis from Smart Debt Relief, which compiled figures from the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel and Equifax, found Utah's total household debt per adult with a credit file rose 34.2% from the end of 2019 through the end of 2025 — the second-fastest increase among all states, behind only Idaho's 37.6%. Tennessee ranked third at 33.4%. Nationally, that same per-adult measure rose 22.5% over the identical period, landing at $63,200 per adult by the end of 2025.
It's worth noting that these per-adult figures include every adult with a credit file, even those carrying no debt at all, and are not adjusted for inflation. Smart Debt Relief's research also notes that mortgages make up roughly two-thirds of all household debt nationally, and that state-by-state debt rankings largely track local house prices rather than any single borrowing behavior.
Other Measures of Utah's Debt Load
Other data points add context to how Utah compares over time. A 2025 Deseret News report citing WalletHub figures put Utah's average household debt, including credit cards and installment loans, at $236,197. Separately, figures attributed to the Cultural Currents Institute put Utah households' average debt at $79,240 against an average salary of $57,360.
The National Debt Picture Is Climbing Too
Utah's trend lines up with a broader national shift. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that total U.S. household debt expanded by $334 billion, a 1.8% increase, in the third quarter of 2026, reaching $19.1 trillion. Credit card balances nationally rose by $22 billion to $1.29 trillion, while mortgage balances — still the largest single component of household debt — climbed $257 billion to $13.4 trillion.
The New York Fed also found that 5.0% of outstanding U.S. household debt was in some stage of delinquency in the third quarter, up 0.3 percentage points from the prior quarter, though transition rates into serious delinquency improved slightly for both credit cards and student loans. Whether Utah's faster-than-average debt growth translates into lasting financial strain for individual households remains an open question, as balances and delinquencies rise.
