Credit Card Utilization: Balances as a Share of Limits (NY Fed)

## What this measures

Aggregate credit card balances divided by aggregate credit card limits, in percent, at quarter end.

## Why it matters

Utilization shows how much of their available card credit households are using. Rising utilization means balances are growing faster than lenders extend limits: households stretching, or lenders tightening.

## How to read it

Higher means less headroom. Read it with card balances (credit.hhdc.credit_card_balance_trillions) and card delinquency (credit.hhdc.pct_90d_delinquent_credit_card).

## What it does not say

It is an aggregate: a household near its limit and one with no balance average out. Lenders cut limits in 2009, which raised utilization without new borrowing.

## How it's built

Page 10 "Credit Card Balance" divided by "Credit Card Limit" (both $ trillions), times one hundred.

## Source

Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, data workbook (Page 10, Credit Limit and Balance for Credit Cards and HE Revolving), built on the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel / Equifax. Used under the New York Fed's terms (business use with attribution). Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax. Refreshed by /api/cron/hhdc-sync, which re-reads the full history from the newest workbook.