Personal loan statistics to know for 2023

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As of the second quarter in 2022, Americans owed over $192 billion in personal loans, according to TransUnion®.  This was a 31% increase from 2021 and is thought to be due to the financial hardships Americans experienced during the COVID pandemic that overwhelmed the nation in 2020.

If you’re one of the many Americans who took out a personal loan in early 2022, the good news is that interest rates were very low, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Since then, rates have reached new highs, so many Americans are struggling to pay back these loans.

Understanding the current trends in personal loans can help you see where you stand financially. We’ve gathered 10 personal loan statistics that include the most common reasons people take out personal loans, delinquency rates and which states have the highest personal loan debt to help you make better financial decisions if you’re accumulating too much debt.

In This Piece

Must-know Personal Loan Statistic Findings

Millions of Americans are taking out personal loans, and the following are some of the most interesting facts on the topic.

  • 27 million Americans have personal loan debt (TransUnion)
  • At the end of 2022, the average new loan amount was $8,018 (TransUnion)
  • The average amount owed in personal loan debt was $11,116 at the end of 2022 (TransUnion)
  • In November of 2022, personal loan interest rates were the highest they’ve been since May of 2011 (St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank)
  • New Jersey has the highest average new personal loan account balance at $13,494 (TransUnion)
Must-know Personal Loan Statistic Findings

Average Personal Loan Debt in America

According to TransUnion, Americans owed roughly $9,896 on average as of the first quarter in 2022, the highest it’s been in recent years. Americans took out loans at an average of $6,656 per loan, which was over $1,000 more than in the previous quarter of 2022.

The amount owed per borrower dropped significantly between Q2 and Q3 in 2022, but by the end of the fourth quarter, the average amount owed increased by over 100 percent with the new loan amount dropping to $8,018.

The increase in personal loan debt may have been due to the inflation the country experienced in 2022. TransUnion also reports that there were more loans approved to “super prime borrowers,” or those with credit scores over 720, stating, “On a percentage basis, personal loan originations for subprime and near-prime borrowers increased in the single digits [year over year] whereas super prime borrowers experienced a 33% rise in the third quarter.”

How Many Americans Have Personal Loans?

The amount of Americans taking out personal loans increased 12 percent from 23.9 million in the first quarter of 2022 to 27 million by the fourth quarter.

Prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the total amount of personal loan borrowers was 23.3 million at the end of 2019 and dropped to 21.2 million by the end of 2020. The number of borrowers then grew back to 22.8 million in the following fourth quarter of 2021 and continued to grow as the pandemic regressed.

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Quarter

Q4 2022 Average new account balance

Q4 2019

23.3 million

Q4 2020

21.2 million

Q4 2021

22.8 million

Q4 2022

27 million

The Most Common Reasons to Take Out a Personal Loan

LendingTree conducted a survey of their users in 2022 and found that the most common reason consumers took out personal loans was to pay down other debts. Over 58 percent of borrowers used these loans to pay down debt, and the other main reasons included credit card refinancing, home improvements and other major purchases.

Rank

Reason

Percentage of respondents

1

Debt consolidation

41%

2

Other

17.3%

3

Credit card refinance

17.3%

4

Home improvements

6.2%

5

Major purchase

4.1%

6

Medical expenses

3.0%

7

Moving/relocation

2.9%

8

Everyday bills

2.9%

9

Car financing

1.7%

10

Car repair

1.1%

11

Business

0.9%

12

Vacation

0.5%

13

Homebuying

0.4%

14

Wedding expenses

0.4%

Average Personal Loan Interest Rates

During the second quarter of 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported that interest rates reached an all-time low of 8.73 percent. By the end of the year, these rates were the highest they’ve been since 2011 at over 11.2 percent.

Average personal loan interest rates

Personal Loan Debt Compared to Other Debts

Based on TransUnion data, personal loans account for less than four percent of the total number of accounts when compared to other types of loans, such as credit cards, home and auto loans.

Account type

Number of accounts

Percentage of accounts

Credit card

518.4 million

76.3%

Auto loan

81.2 million

11.9%

Mortgage loan

52.6 million

7.83%

Personal loan

27 million

3.97%

It’s also important to note that not all credit card accounts carry a balance.

Personal Loan Delinquency Rates

Delinquent accounts are accounts 60 days or more past due and can hurt your credit score. The Q4 TransUnion report shows that the delinquency rate dropped year over year between 2019 and 2020, but was up 53 percent as of 2022, with an overall delinquency rate of 4.14 percent.

Quarter

Delinquency rate

Q4 2019

3.48%

Q4 2020

2.7%

Q4 2021

3%

Q4 2022

4.14%

TransUnion’s 2022 Credit Snapshot shows that in the last month of the report, those with the lowest credit scores have the highest delinquency rate of 23.9 percent, while super prime borrowers are only at 12 percent.

Credit score range

Percentage of delinquent borrowers

Subprime (300 to 600)

23.9%

Near prime (601 to 660)

23.7%

Prime (661 to 720)

23.3%

Prime plus (721 to 780)

17%

Super prime (781 to 850)

12%

Personal Loan Statistics by State

TransUnion’s 2022 Credit Snapshot reports that New Jersey has the highest average new account balance at over $13,000, and Oklahoma has the lowest at $3,170. Although Oklahoma has the lowest new account balance, they have the highest delinquency rate at 7.73 percent.

State

Q4 2022 Average new account balance

Q4 2022 Delinquency rate

AK

$10,296

2.9%

AL

$4,362

6.59%

AR

$7,089

5.18%

AZ

$9,343

3.78%

CA

$10,454

3.47%

CO

$12,322

2.03%

CT

$11,712

2.57%

D.C.

$9,016

6.55%

DE

$9,146

4.04%

FL

$8,379

3.94%

GA

$8,621

5.18%

HI

$12,224

2.28%

IA

$7,443

2.94%

ID

$9,072

4.38%

IL

$9,236

3.46%

IN

$7,439

2.97%

KS

$8,349

3.05%

KY

$6,875

3.36%

LA

$6,797

5.07%

MA

$12,518

2.24%

MD

$10,956

2.77%

ME

$6,651

1.67%

MI

$7,052

3.21%

MN

$10,692

3.73%

MO

$6,522

6.69%

MS

$5,179

4.96%

MT

$9,326

2.53%

NC

$10,035

3.03%

ND

$8,051

1.89%

NE

$7,755

3.65%

NH

$11,719

2.31%

NJ

$13,494

3.49%

NM

$5,418

6.31%

NV

$8,839

3.74%

NY

$11,843

2.77%

OH

$7,595

3.75%

OK

$3,170

7.73%

OR

$10,523

2.93%

PA

$10,418

3.06%

RI

$8,744

2.14%

SC

$5,924

4.89%

SD

$9,945

2.06%

TN

$5,355

5.38%

TX

$4,952

6.33%

UT

$7,966

4.23%

VA

$9,875

3.37%

VT

$6,180

0.82%

WA

$9,570

2.94%

WI

$6,489

3.95%

WV

$10,864

1.96%

WY

$7,698

2.66%

Personal Loan Statistics by Type of Lender

More and more Americans are turning to financial technology companies, also known as FinTech, for their personal loans. These are online banking services that are done via a company’s website or mobile app, and 32.9 percent of all personal loans are done through these types of companies.

Lender type

Distribution of total balances

FinTech

32.9%

Banks

20.5%

Credit unions

19.7%

Other finance companies

26.9%

Can Personal Loan Debt Affect Your Credit Score?

If you’re one of the 27 million Americans with a personal loan, you don’t have to let your debt harm your credit score. As you’ve learned from these personal loan statistics, many Americans have turned to personal loans to pay off other debts, but many people are delinquent with their payments, which can hurt their scores.

Credit.com provides a variety of credit tools and tips to help you work to repair and improve your credit. You can learn more about our services, like ExtraCredit, or click here to get your free credit report card.

The post Personal loan statistics to know for 2023 appeared first on Credit.com.

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