Highlights. Americans carried 1.12 billion credit cards in 2022; projections indicate that credit cards will number 1.19 billion in 2025.
- 183.5 million or 70% of U.S. adults have a credit card account in their name.
- The average U.S. credit cardholder carries 3 cards and makes up to 299 credit card purchases per year.
- Over 75% of U.S. households have at least one general-use credit card.
Credit Card Account Statistics
There are enough active credit and debit cards in the world for every living adult to have at least one.
- 26.3% of consumer credit card accounts are less than 24 months old.
- 37.9% of new credit card accounts were opened by consumers with subprime (below 660) credit scores.
- 32.8% of new cards were opened by consumers with prime (660-719) credit scores, while 29.3% of new cards belong to superprime (720+) consumers.
- The number of active credit card accounts increased 25.5% from 2003 to 2023.
- Cardholders with superprime credit have an average limit of $12,046; they charge an average of $803 per month to their credit cards.
- The average prime card has a limit of $7,392, and prime cardholders charge an average of $563 per month.
- Subprime cards have an average limit of $3,190, and subprime cardholders charge $240 per month.
- The average U.S. cardholder carried 4 cards in 2019.
Credit Card Processor Statistics
Four major credit card processors facilitate most consumer credit transactions in the United States with cards from hundreds of different issuers.
- The most widely used credit card network is Visa, with 4.160 billion cards active worldwide.
- The second-most widely used credit card network worldwide is Mastercard Inc., with 2.713 billion consumer and commercial cards active at the end of 2022.
- Discover has 80 million active credit cards.
- American Express has issued 76.7 million proprietary cards active worldwide.
- 56.5 million or 73.7% of active American Express cards were issued by third-party institutions.
State-Level Credit Card Ownership Statistics
While the most populated states have a higher average number of credit cards, there is little correlation between population size and average number of cards overall.
- New Jersey cardholders carry 4.1 cards, the highest number of cards on average.
- Cardholders in Alaska and Mississippi carry the fewest cards on average (2.8).
- California is home to the highest estimated number of active credit card accounts (76.9 million).
- Wyoming is estimated to be the only state with fewer than one million active credit card accounts.
| State | Average Cards per Cardholder | Estimated Total Credit Cards |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3.0 | 8,353,000 |
| Alaska | 2.8 | 1,093,500 |
| Arizona | 3.4 | 13,919,000 |
| Arkansas | 3.0 | 4,960,500 |
| California | 3.6 | 76,909,200 |
| Colorado | 3.4 | 11,097,800 |
| Connecticut | 3.8 | 7,698,500 |
| Delaware | 3.7 | 2,123,700 |
| District of Columbia | 3.0 | 1,160,000 |
| Florida | 3.7 | 47,215,400 |
| Georgia | 3.4 | 20,207,500 |
| Hawaii | 3.3 | 2,636,900 |
| Idaho | 3.2 | 3,354,100 |
| Illinois | 3.6 | 24,807,300 |
| Indiana | 3.2 | 11,815,900 |
| Iowa | 3.1 | 5,374,800 |
| Kansas | 3.3 | 5,188,700 |
| Kentucky | 3.2 | 7,860,700 |
| Louisiana | 3.1 | 7,609,300 |
| Maine | 3.1 | 2,488,300 |
| Maryland | 3.6 | 12,142,200 |
| Massachusetts | 3.6 | 14,262,200 |
| Michigan | 3.4 | 18,862,300 |
| Minnesota | 3.3 | 10,249,400 |
| Mississippi | 2.8 | 4,429,300 |
| Missouri | 3.3 | 11,138,100 |
| Montana | 2.9 | 1,821,200 |
| Nebraska | 3.4 | 3,563,800 |
| Nevada | 3.6 | 6,320,700 |
| New Hampshire | 3.6 | 2,898,000 |
| New Jersey | 4.1 | 20,895,200 |
| New Mexico | 3.1 | 3,608,800 |
| New York | 3.8 | 41,526,100 |
| North Carolina | 3.3 | 19,632,400 |
| North Dakota | 3.2 | 1,342,200 |
| Ohio | 3.5 | 22,558,800 |
| Oklahoma | 2.9 | 6,267,100 |
| Oregon | 3.1 | 7,381,300 |
| Pennsylvania | 3.6 | 26,038,300 |
| Rhode Island | 3.7 | 2,310,600 |
| South Carolina | 3.2 | 9,473,800 |
| South Dakota | 3.0 | 1,464,600 |
| Tennessee | 3.1 | 12,056,000 |
| Texas | 3.6 | 57,814,300 |
| Utah | 3.2 | 5,565,500 |
| Vermont | 3.0 | 1,118,900 |
| Virginia | 3.5 | 16,743,700 |
| Washington | 3.2 | 13,809,200 |
| West Virginia | 3.1 | 3,076,800 |
| Wisconsin | 3.3 | 10,768,800 |
| Wyoming | 2.9 | 922,700 |
Global Credit Card Usage Statistics
24.5% of global consumers own at least one credit card.
- Canada has the world’s highest credit card ownership rate, with 82.7% of individuals owning at least one credit card.
- 54.3% of consumers in Australia and New Zealand have at least one credit card, the highest rate of any region outside North America.
- 37.7% of European consumers have a credit card; Iceland has the highest ownership rate in Europe at 74.0%.
- 17.8% of consumers in the Middle East have a credit card; Israel has the highest ownership rate at 79.1%.
- 16.8% of consumers in Asia have a credit card; Hong Kong has the highest ownership rate at 71.6%.
- 14.5% of consumers in Latin America have a credit card; Brazil has the highest ownership rate at 40.4%.
- 3.7% of African consumers have a credit card; Mauritius has the highest ownership rate at 20.1%.
These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.
Sources
- Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York, Center for Microeconomic Data
- United States Census Bureau, Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables
- CNBC
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Corporate Filings
- Statista, Credit Cards Worldwide – Statistics and Facts
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Credit Card Market Report
- Fed Board of Governors, Credit Card Profitability
- American Bankers Association, Credit Card Market Monitor