Average Debt by Age

Here's a list of average debt by age in the U.S.:

Under 35: $67,400
35–44: $133,100
45–54: $134,600
55–64: $108,300
65–74: $66,000
75 and up: $34,500

It includes mortgages, student loans, etc.

I'm thinking it's a lot better than I would have guessed. Maybe the average is lowered by a bunch of people on the low-end with zero debt?

What do you think?

Comments

[Michael B]

Later on in the article they show debt for those who owe money:

If these numbers are right it means the following percentage of people don't have debt:

Under 35: $300,000 (77% are debt free)
35-44: $500,000 (73% are debt free)
45-54: $600,000 (78% are debt free)
55-64: $550,000 (80% are debt free)
65-74: $550,000 (88% are debt free)
75+: $500,000 (93% are debt free)

The number of debt free individuals seems a bit off to me, I'd expect it to be lower in the earlier decades, but maybe I'm out of touch.

[hglaber]

Below poverty line (12% of population)? Probably little to no debt because ineligible to borrow.

Rent your home (36% of households)? No mortgage debt - the largest debt most people have.

Are car leases (~30% of cars are leased) counted as debt? If not, there's the second largest source of debt listed as zero.

Are averages useless metrics for analysis of unevenly-distributed data? Yes.

[Allan Smith]

These numbers are magical. Every one of us should have a certain financial goal to reach. These numbers will be very interesting for all of us. Thanks for sharing.

[Josh]

Sounds low to me, at least from my experience with clients. What would really be interesting is to see the amount of lifetime interest paid vs debt by age groups.