[throwawaykeno]

> Average credit card debt per U.S. adult, excluding zero-balance cards and store cards: $5,232.43

That is amazing and terrifying.

[xhrpost]

Median is $2,300 which brings this into perspective a bit more.

http://www.valuepenguin.com/average-credit-card-debt

[conception]

Thanks for this. Was about to go nuts about how useless an average is on this sort of thing.

[nostrebored]

Well the median is an average so...

And honestly both averages should be presented together, paints a terrifying picture

[theandrewbailey]

Median is the middle value of all values in a sequence. Average is the sum of all numbers in a sequence, divided by the count of values.

Take [0,2,100]: average is 34, but median is 2.

[trentmb]

nostrebored is just pointing out that the median and arithmetic mean are both averages.

[nostrebored]

I'm being needlessly pedantic, but yeah.

[ArkyBeagle]

Median != mean. Usually, "average" is expected value, or mean.

[LeifCarrotson]

You're thinking of the mean.

[gnaritas]

Both median and mean are averages.

[gcr]

The median of a list of numbers is the value that minimizes the sum of absolute differences to each value, sum([abs(median - x) for x in list])

The average of a list of numbers is the value that minimizes the sum of squared difference to each value, sum([squared(mean - x) for x in list])

They're both summary statistics in that they're single numbers used to describe a dataset, but a median is not a "kind of average." The mean is the mean and nothing else.

[abarringer]

I agree, it is terrifying.

They say the average US household has $15,762 of Credit Card debt.[0] (that's disputed it could be from 5K to 15K depending on what numbers you believe) [1]

With an average rate of 15.07%[2]

Which works out to something like a minimum payment of $600 a month with $188 of it going to interest.

The Average US consumer is not just tapped out but actively being strangled by debt.

"47: The percentage of Americans who can’t pay for an unexpected $400 expense through savings or credit cards"[3]

What this really means is a near majority of the country is on the very brink of bankruptcy one trip to the ER (with insurance) or a tire blowout and down they go.

The terrifying part is that any hint of recession and the ripple effect could take a lot of us down with it.

[0] https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-cre... [1] http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/images/infograph... [2] http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/interest-rate-re... [3] http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/2014-report-econom...

[arbuge]

In a country with a GDP per capita (not per adult, to be clear - this includes non-adults) of around $50k, why would you feel that's terrifying?

[klodolph]

Because we know that wealth is distributed unequally, and that a scrupulous individual earning $35k gross might have a cash flow under $1k.

[ptaipale]

The debt is also distributed unequally. Mostly so that those who have more wealth, have also more debt (though not 1:1 of course).

[dionidium]

On unsecured credit cards? I doubt it.

[morgante]

Wealthier people are the ones who have unsecured credit cards. Banks apparently have no problem giving me a limit of $50k without any sort of collateral, but my dad can't get a credit card without depositing his entire limit.

[dionidium]

I was given an unreasonable amount of unsecured credit when I turned 18, by virtue, apparently, of the fact that I was now 18. It certainly wasn't because I had any stable income or assets.

[some-guy]

It's not the amount by itself, it's the ridiculous interest rates on top of the amount.

[gozur88]

But how much of that debt will be retired without paying any interest? My cards have something like an 18% APR, but I've never paid a penny.

[damptowel]

And its only the tip of the iceberg, read Richard Vague or Steve Keen. Global private sector debt is at historic record levels. It's the sole reason the economy stays sour.

[ArkyBeagle]

But still, no inflation for us. Nope.