The average outstanding credit card balance was $4,951 during the second quarter, a drop of 13.4%, according to a report issued by the credit reporting company TransUnion.
It is the fifth consecutive quarterly decline and was the first quarter when debt was below $5,000 since the first quarter of 2002. The company declines borrower debt as the aggregate balance on all bank-issued credit cards.
Alaska had the highest average debt, $7,148, and Iowa had the lowest, $3,792.
The national credit card delinquency rate was 0.92%, a decline of 17.1% from the first quarter and a drop of 21.3% from the second quarter of 2009.
The highest delinquency rate, $1.50%, was in Nevada. The lowest was in North Dakota, 0.54%.
The rate represents the ratio of cardholders delinquent by 90 days or more on one or more of their cards.
"It appears that consumers have come to realize that material improvement in unemployment is unlikely in the short-term, and now is the time to balance saving versus spending. It remains to be seen whether this dynamic will be short term or a new paradigm for consumer behavior," TransUnion Director of Consulting and Strategy Ezra Becker said in a statement.
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