Personally, I would have thought the numbers would be all around higher.

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~Happiness is a large family~

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My gourds made the front page of the paper!!

Very interesting article! Unfortunately, we are above average for MA but are working on that!

Not surprised. Didn't realize that the average for the sample for Alabama is over 17%.

This is what I was thinking!!

Alot of these numbers and % didn't seem right to me.

It says Indiana is $9600. That seems like so much to me. Indiana isn't one of the higher income states and our standard of living is much cheaper than the coasts, so I'm surprised people would have so much debt. I disagree with those of you that thought the average would be higher. I can't believe people get themselves that far into debt. Haven't they ever heard or said the word "NO".

The numbers Kim posted are much lower. They're more in line with what I would have thought they would be.

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Whew!! I'm glad Kim posted those statistics! I was getting worried there for a minute!
I guess when I was searching the net for credit card statistics, I should've paid closer attention to the fact that it was on a credit consolidation company , and Kim is right, those numbers are apparently a small sampling of people who needed to use their services, so of course the numbers might be higher than average. It was encouraging to see that the overall CC debt in the US is actually quite a bit lower than those numbers!
With all of the talk about the US "credit crunch" and a recession, it is a scary thought that some are in so deep! The sad part is, I can see just how it could happen. One major illness or medical bill that wasn't paid for by insurance, and you can end up with CC debt basically for the rest of your life. I guess some instances are just plain old living beyond your means, but it seems like most of the people I talk to that have really big CC debt are because of circumstances beyond their control, and didn't have significant enough savings to cover it.
I guess that is my motivation to try and save as much as possible, because you never know when it could be you in that situation.

This one (off of Kim's link) surprised me. I thought there were more people with credit card debt than without. I'm the only one out of my friends and family with no credit card debt, so-- obviously a small sampling but I guess I would have expected them to be closer to the norm. They are all well paid and not BIG spenders.

Good to know!

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~Vicki~
Mama to Hailey, 4 and Ella, 2