10 States Where New Credit Card Borrowing Is Changing Fastest

Credit card borrowing is changing at different speeds across the country, with Arkansas, Colorado and Nevada posting some of the fastest increases in average debt. High balances can become especially costly when borrowers carry them from month to month – Shutterstock

Credit card borrowing looks different depending on where you live, and the latest state-by-state numbers reveal some surprising movement. While some states carry enormous balances, other states have seen their average credit card debt climb much faster over the past year.

That distinction matters because a rising balance can signal a very different financial story from a high balance that barely changes. LendingTree’s latest analysis of more than 400,000 anonymized credit reports from the first quarters of 2025 and 2026 found that Arkansas posted the fastest growth, while several other states also recorded noticeable increases.