Last updated on: 6/14/2023 | Author: ProCon.org

Student Loan Debt Compared to Other Household Debt

American student loan debt rose from $350 billion to $1.6 trillion between 2004 and 2022. Student loan debt has been the second highest household debt since 2010, surpassed only by housing loans. The data below is from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data.

YearStudent Loans
(billions)
Other Debt
(billions)
Credit Cards
(billions)
Auto Loans
(billions)
Housing Loans
(billions)
2004$350$420$720$730$6,830
2005$390$420$740$790$7,670
2006$480$410$770$820$8,840
2007$550$420$840$810$9,750
2008$640$410$870$790$9,960
2009$720$380$800$720$9,550
2010$810$340$730$710$9,120
2011$870$330$700$730$8,900
2012$970$320$680$780$8,600
2013$1,080$320$680$860$8,580
2014$1,160$340$700$950$8,680
2015$1,230$350$730$1,060$8,740
2016$1,310$380$780$1,160$8,950
2017$1,380$390$830$1,220$9,330
2018$1,460$410$870$1,270$9,540
2019$1,510$430$930$1,330$9,950
2020$1,550$420$820$1,370$10,390
2021$1,580$440$860$1,460$11,250
2022$1,600$510$990$1,550$12,260