Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Tops Consumer Debt List

Americans now owe more than $2.8 trillion in auto loans, credit card debt, and personal loans. To shed light on growing debt hotspots, the personal-finance company WalletHub has released its latest report, Cities Where People Are Adding the Most Debt to highlight emerging areas of concern. This analysis follows its recent Household Debt Report.

"Winston-Salem had the biggest overall increase in consumer debt during the second quarter of 2025. The average credit card balance in Winston-Salem increased by nearly 6% from Q1 2025 to Q2 2025 to a total of $9,900, the biggest increase in the country and the fifth-highest average balance," said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. "The average Winston-Salemites' personal loan balance increased by around 3.6% during the same period, the largest increase in the country. In addition, the average auto loan balance in Winston-Salem went up by nearly 4%; this increase was the highest in the nation."

According WalletHub reports, total household debt increased by $28 billion during Q2 2025. That is 5.8X more than the increase in Q2 2024.

In addition, the average household owed a total of $152,653 at the end of Q2 2025, which is $13,809 below the all-time high.

The ratio of total household debt to deposits indicates consumers are in a stable position. It's still below pre-Covid levels and roughly 47% lower than the early 2000s peak.

The ratio between total household debt and assets, at 9.57%, continues to be at a healthy level.

The new study ranks 100 of the largest U.S. cities based on increases in credit card, auto loan, and personal loan debt from Q1 to Q2 of 2025, using WalletHub's proprietary data. Key findings from the report include:

Largest increase

1. Winston-Salem, North Carolina

2. Anchorage, Alaska

3. Laredo, Texas

4. Riverside, California

5. Boise, Idaho

6. Scottsdale, Arizona

7. Washington, D.C.

8. Fort Wayne, Indiana

9. San Antonio, Texas

10. Glendale, Arizona

Smallest increase

91. San Francisco, California

92. Fresno, California

93. Detroit, Michigan

94. Hialeah, Florida

95. San Bernardino, California

96. Lincoln, Nebraska

97. Buffalo, New York

98. Madison, Wisconsin

99. Newark, New Jersey

100. Des Moines, Iowa

"Increasing the amount of debt you have isn't always bad, but it becomes a problem when it accumulates too quickly for you to be able to make on-time payments," Lupo said. "With how high interest rates are currently, it's easy for borrowing to become unsustainable. People in the cities where consumers are adding the most debt should therefore make sure they have a viable payoff plan. The best plan is to focus on paying the highest-interest balances down first while maintaining minimum payments on the rest, then repeating the process until debt-free."