Highlights. Among American adults over 18 years, up to 182.6 million or 70% have a credit card account in their name.
- Projections indicate that 186.6 million U.S. adults will have credit cards in 2025.
- Over 75% of U.S. households have at least one general-use credit card, meaning 246 million Americans live in a household with at least one credit cardholder.
- American consumers have 564.5 million active credit card accounts, enough for every American adult to have 2 accounts.
- The average U.S. cardholder carries 3 cards and makes 210 credit card purchases per year.
How Many People Have Credit Cards in Each State?
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 | 8,321,741 |
| Alaska | 2.8 | 1,091,838 |
| Arizona | 3.4 | 13,733,045 |
| Arkansas | 3.0 | 4,931,888 |
| California | 3.6 | 76,918,754 |
| Colorado | 3.4 | 11,005,955 |
| Connecticut | 3.8 | 7,701,166 |
| Delaware | 3.7 | 2,098,597 |
| District of Columbia | 3.0 | 1,149,389 |
| Florida | 3.7 | 46,486,535 |
| Georgia | 3.4 | 19,998,552 |
| Hawaii | 3.3 | 2,640,030 |
| Idaho | 3.2 | 3,305,409 |
| Illinois | 3.6 | 24,851,991 |
| Indiana | 3.2 | 11,789,375 |
| Iowa | 3.1 | 5,372,981 |
| Kansas | 3.3 | 5,188,995 |
| Kentucky | 3.2 | 7,857,326 |
| Louisiana | 3.1 | 7,656,949 |
| Maine | 3.1 | 2,468,249 |
| Maryland | 3.6 | 12,141,539 |
| Massachusetts | 3.6 | 14,224,241 |
| Michigan | 3.4 | 18,860,115 |
| Minnesota | 3.3 | 10,217,181 |
| Mississippi | 2.8 | 4,433,512 |
| Missouri | 3.3 | 11,118,143 |
| Montana | 2.9 | 1,804,901 |
| Nebraska | 3.4 | 3,549,165 |
| Nevada | 3.6 | 6,269,745 |
| New Hampshire | 3.6 | 2,878,614 |
| New Jersey | 4.1 | 20,857,983 |
| New Mexico | 3.1 | 3,588,813 |
| New York | 3.8 | 41,729,716 |
| North Carolina | 3.3 | 19,413,457 |
| North Dakota | 3.2 | 1,336,129 |
| Ohio | 3.5 | 22,524,095 |
| Oklahoma | 2.9 | 6,225,308 |
| Oregon | 3.1 | 7,384,833 |
| Pennsylvania | 3.6 | 26,075,808 |
| Rhode Island | 3.7 | 2,304,639 |
| South Carolina | 3.2 | 9,329,067 |
| South Dakota | 3.0 | 1,450,384 |
| Tennessee | 3.1 | 11,963,648 |
| Texas | 3.6 | 56,884,550 |
| Utah | 3.2 | 5,486,190 |
| Vermont | 3.0 | 1,117,845 |
| Virginia | 3.5 | 16,700,937 |
| Washington | 3.2 | 13,751,837 |
| West Virginia | 3.1 | 3,088,418 |
| Wisconsin | 3.3 | 10,734,362 |
| Wyoming | 2.9 | 916,072 |
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, Data
- CNBC
- U.S. Securiies 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