Headlines yesterday reported on a rising average credit card debt among American households:

Is the average the best measure? With credit card debt possibly ranging from $0 to who knows how much, is the average a good measure of what is typical?

Previous data I have seen suggest the average might not be very helpful. A July 2023 story based on survey data reported this:

A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 30% of Americans have between $1,001 and $5,000 in credit card debt, 15% have $5,001 or more in credit card debt and about 6% have more than $10,000 in credit card debt.

From 2022 data:

Unfortunately, most people with an active credit card account don’t always pay their bills in full. A November 2022 LendingTree survey found that just 35% of cardholders say they always pay their credit card balance in full every month, while 65% say they carry a balance at least some of the time. Nearly half (46%) of those cardholders who have card debt say it would take them at least a year to pay it off.

And tables on this site based on 2019 Federal Reserve survey data suggest the median credit card debt is quite a bit lower than the average.

I am guessing the median credit card debt is a better measure of the typical debt as it better accounts for all the households without any credit card debt. There is a place for the average or the total amount of credit card debt, particularly if one wants to emphasize the growing amount of debt.