Ohio is among states where credit card debt is rising most quickly

In another sign of a stumbling economy, credit card debt among Ohioans is rising at the fifth-fastest rate in the country, according to a report that was released last week.

The analysis of credit card data was performed by WalletHub.

It found that while 19.66% of Ohio credit card payments were overdue in the second quarter of last year, 28.65% were in 2025.

Only Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota saw bigger increases.

“While some level of delinquency is unavoidable, rising delinquency rates often signal broader economic strain,” the analysis said.

On the positive side, the sustainability of Ohioans’ overall debt is much better than most states.

A WalletHub analysis in July found that median credit card debt here was $2,476 and the median monthly payment was $263.

At that rate, it would take 11 months and 14 days for median cardholders to pay off their balances.

That was the 10th fastest in the United States, the analysis found.

But the rapid rise in Ohioans’ credit-card debt coincides with several other foreboding economic indicators.

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index was 3% in September, and the Federal Bank of Cleveland reported that President Donald Trump’s tariffs were forcing up businesses’ expenses and prices for consumers.

Meanwhile, Ohioans’ utility bills are skyrocketing as the state provides incentives to power-intensive data centers to locate here.

The centers don’t employ many people, and one estimate said the incentives are costing Ohioans $1 million tax dollars for each job created.

Ohio again had the nation’s fifth-highest unemployment in August, despite years of spending billions on taxpayer-financed incentives to attract jobs.

The Trump administration started the year by allowing the world’s richest man to lead a group that slashed more than 250,000 federal workers, and many more have been idled as a partial government shutdown approaches its sixth week.

The news organization Reuters last Thursday reported that U.S.-based employers in October cut 150,000 jobs — the largest number in 20 years.

Total job cuts for the year are just over 1 million, the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

With lots of student loan debt and faced with a weak employment picture, credit card struggles are particularly besetting Ohio’s young people.

An analysis of Federal Reserve Data by Austin-based Upgraded Points last month found that a higher-than-average portion of Ohioans between 18 and 34 had credit cards that were more than 90 days delinquent.

The Buckeye State ranked 16th for severe delinquency, with 17.1% of young people having that status in the first quarter of 2025.