Average Number of Credit Cards per Person (2024): Latest Data

Highlights. The average U.S. credit cardholder carries 3 cards (down from an average of 4 recorded in 2019).

214.9 million or 82% of U.S. adults have at least one credit card account in their name.
Over 75% of U.S. households have at least one general-use credit card.
There are enough active credit cards in the world for every living person over the age of 15 to have at least one.

National Map: Average Number of Credit Cards per Person according to Experian, see table Credit Card Ownership by State for data

How Many Credit Cards Does The Average Person Have?

American consumers have 596.6 million active credit card accounts; this total excludes cards that have been suspended, deactivated, or yet to be activated.

247 million Americans live in a household with at least one credit cardholder.
When decimals are included, the average number of credit cards per U.S. cardholder increased by 4.86% from 2022 to 2023.
The number of active credit card accounts in the U.S. has increased 27.0% since 2003 while the population has increased 15.4%.
The four largest U.S. consumer credit processors have a cumulative total of 7.55 billion active credit cards worldwide.
On average, women have 25% more open credit card accounts than men.

Credit Card Ownership by State
State	Average Number of Credit Cards
Alabama	3.5
Alaska	3.2
Arizona	3.9
Arkansas	3.5
California	4.0
Colorado	3.7
Connecticut	4.2
Delaware	4.2
District of Columbia	3.4
Florida	4.3
Georgia	3.9
Hawaii	3.6
Idaho	3.6
Illinois	4.1
Indiana	3.7
Iowa	3.5
Kansas	3.6
Kentucky	3.6
Louisiana	3.5
Maine	3.5
Maryland	3.9
Massachusetts	3.9
Michigan	3.8
Minnesota	3.6
Mississippi	3.4
Missouri	3.8
Montana	3.4
Nebraska	3.7
Nevada	4.1
New Hampshire	3.9
New Jersey	4.5
New Mexico	3.5
New York	4.1
North Carolina	3.8
North Dakota	3.6
Ohio	4.0
Oklahoma	3.5
Oregon	3.5
Pennsylvania	4.0
Rhode Island	4.2
South Carolina	3.8
South Dakota	3.3
Tennessee	3.6
Texas	4.0
Utah	3.5
Vermont	3.3
Virginia	3.9
Washington	3.6
West Virginia	3.7
Wisconsin	3.7
Wyoming	3.3

What Kind of Credit Card Does the Average Person Have?

The average credit card is a Visa, with a 55% global market share among the four major U.S.-based processors.

As of 2024, the average credit card rate is 24.7%.
The average card has a credit limit of $8,130.
The most widely used credit card processor is Visa, with 4.16 billion cards active worldwide.

Credit Card Ownership by Generation (Birth Year)
Age Group (Birth Year)	2022 Average number of Cards	2023 Average number of Cards
Generation Z (1997 – 2004)	2.1	2.0
Millennials (1981 – 1996)	3.4	3.5
Generation X (1965 – 1980)	4.4	4.3
Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964)	4.6	4.3
Silent Generation (1928 – 1945	3.4	3.5

American Credit Card Ownership

The total number of active credit card accounts is equivalent to 2.28 credit card accounts per American adult over 18 years.

8% or 21.0 million American adults have four (4) or more credit cards.
12% or 31.4 million consumers have three (3) credit cards.
29% or 76.0 million consumers have two (2) credit cards
31% or 81.2 million consumers have one (1) credit card.
20% or 52.4 million American adults do not own a credit card.
Silent generation consumers (aged 78 and older) have an average of 3.5 credit cards.

Stacked Bar Graph: Number of Credit Cards by Generation according to The Ascent

Generation Z Credit Card Ownership

Generation Z Americans (ages 18 to 26) have an average of 2.0 credit cards, down 4.76% from 2022.

37% of Gen Z consumers have one credit card; 29% have two credit cards.
17% of Gen Z consumers have three or more credit cards.
16% of Gen Z adults do not own a credit card.

Millennial Credit Card Ownership

Millennials (ages 27 to 42) have an average of 3.5 credit cards, up 2.94% from 2022.

31% of Millennial consumers have one credit card; 30% have two credit cards.
20% of Millennials have three or more credit cards.
8% of Millennials do not own a credit card.

Generation X Credit Card Ownership

Generation X consumers (ages 43 to 58) have an average of 4.3 credit cards, down 2.27% from 2022.

29% of Gen X consumers have one credit card; 26% have two credit cards.
20% of Gen X consumers have three or more credit cards.
25% of Gen X consumers do not own a credit card.

Baby Boomer Credit Card Ownership

Baby boomers (ages 59 to 77) have an average age of 4.3 credit cards, up 2.94% from 2022.

30% of Baby boomer consumers have one credit card; 24% have two credit cards.
29% of Boomers have three or more credit cards.
13% of Boomers do not own a credit card.

Bar Graph: U.S. Credit Card Opening Rates according to The Ascent

New Credit Card Opening Rates

28.8% of consumers in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas opened at least one credit card in the first half of 2023.

69% of Americans open a new credit card account once per year or less frequently.
19% of consumers open a new credit card 2x per year.
6% of consumers open a credit card 3x per year; 6% open a credit card 4x per year.
The newest credit card in the average American’s wallet is 2 years and 3 months old.
Their oldest card has an average age of 12 years and 7 months.
For consumers 65 and older, the average age of their newest credit card is 3 years and 2 months; their oldest card has an average age of 20 years and 6 months.
Americans have closed an average of 4.8 credit card accounts in their lifetimes.

Bar Graph: Credit Card Ownership by Type according to The Ascent

Global Credit Card Ownership

Consumers in Canada have an average of 3.85 credit cards; 82.7% of Canadians over the age of 15 own a credit card, the highest rate of any country.

Japanese consumers have an average of 2.34 credit cards, and 69.7% of Japanese adults own a credit card.
Consumers in South Korea have an average of 2.20 credit cards; 68.4% of Korean adults own a credit card.
Brazilian consumers have an average of 1.33 credit cards, and 40.4% of Brazilian adults own a credit card.
79.1% of consumers in Israel have a credit card, followed by Iceland with 74.0% of adults owning a credit card.
71.6% of consumers in Hong Kong have a credit card, followed by Luxembourg with 69.8% of adults owning a credit card.

These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.

Average Number of Credit Cards per Person

How Many Credit Cards Does The Average Person Have?

What Kind of Credit Card Does the Average Person Have?