Georgia
These states are increasing their consumer debt. Georgia ranked fifth
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As prices continue to rise across the country, Americans are tacking more and more money onto their consumer debt.
Americans have $1.3 trillion in credit card debt, $1.7 trillion in auto loan debt and billions of dollars in personal loans, collectively. Consumer debts also include mortgages, payday loans and student loans.
But, the residents of some states are increasing their debt faster than others.
A new report from WalletHub compared all 50 states for the change in average debt from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2025. Here’s what they found.
States with highest increase in consumer debt
“At a time when interest rates are very high, it’s especially important to minimize the accumulation of debt. Americans have added a staggering amount of new debt in the past decade, and it can be very easy for that debt to become unsustainable leading to future issues like default and major credit score damage,” John Kiernan, a WalletHub editor, said in the report.
Here are the states that increased their consumer debt the most in the second half of 2025.
- Maine
- Wyoming
- Hawaii
- Montana
- Georgia
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Florida
- Texas
- Vermont
“The average credit card balance in Maine increased by nearly 8% from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025, rising to nearly $8,000,” the report said. “For context, the vast majority of states saw increases of less than 5%”
Maine’s auto loans balances went up 2%, the third highest in the country, while personal loans increased 0.5%, one of only three states that had increases.
Wyoming was second with a 5.5% increase in credit card debt, and a 2.5% increase in auto loan debt, the largest in the country. The state’s personal loan debt, however, decreased by 2.4% during the time period.
States with lowest increase in consumer debt
Here are the states with the lowest increases, or even decreases in debt.
- Michigan
- Kentucky
- Ohio
- New Hampshire
- Connecticut
- Iowa
- Missouri
- Delaware
- Oregon
- West Virginia
How can you start to pay off your consumer debt?
WalletHub experts gave a few tips for paying down your debt — and then keeping it down.
You should start by creating a detailed repayment plan that lists all debts, their interest rates and minimum monthly payments to create a schedule to pay the debt down with extra funds. Experts also recommend cutting down unnecessary expenses so money can be redirected toward paying debt.
If possible, you can negotiate lower interest rates with creditors, or even find a temporary fix through a hardship plan. If needed, you can try and find additional income through a part-time job, freelancing or selling unwanted or unneeded items.
If you have debt but also good credit, you may be able to refinance your debt through a balance transfer or debt consolidation loan.
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
Georgia baseball will resume its NCAA Athens Regional game with Long Island at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 29, after persistent rain—heavy at times—forced the suspension of the game.
The Bulldogs have a commanding 15-1 lead with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth.
The teams and some fans waited out a delay that started 7:14 p.m.
The game was suspended officially at 9:06 p.m. Long Island players were already grabbing their equipment in the dugout to depart for the team hotel before then.
The winner of Georgia-LIU will play No. 3 seed Liberty Saturday in the double-elimination tournament in a game scheduled for 5 p.m.
The loser will play No. 2 seed Boston College at noon.
The No. 3 national seed Bulldogs hit six homers before the game was delayed due to heavy rain.
There was a 53 percent chance of rain at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to weather.com, decreasing to 17 percent at 11 a.m., but there’s a threat of storms in the afternoon.
The Georgia Public Service Commission this week approved a plan expected to reduce utility bills for Georgia Power customers by a few dollars a month.
The commission said the change will generate about $285 million in total annual savings for Georgia Power customers, or roughly $50 per year — about $4.04 per month — for the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month.
The Georgia PSC voted Thursday to lower overall rates as part of the approved plan.
Georgia Power Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Tyler Cook said the decision will provide “real savings for Georgia families and businesses as the heat of summer begins and energy use increases.”
“At Georgia Power, our teams work every day to run our business efficiently and keep reliable and affordable energy flowing to our customers,” Cook said.
Cook said the outcome followed months of work between Georgia Power and PSC staff, including reviews, public hearings and input from residents and intervenors.
The approved plan is tied to a stipulated agreement reached earlier this month involving two cases filed with the PSC in February, the Fuel Cost Recovery case and the Storm Cost Recovery case. Those cases addressed recovering fuel costs used to generate electricity and expenses tied to restoring power after storms.
Georgia Power said its rates remain, on average, about 15% below the national average and that it is still on track to provide additional annual savings of about $102 per year for typical residential customers beginning in 2029.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Public Service Commission approved a stipulated agreement on Thursday to lower utility rates for Georgia Power customers starting June 1.
The regulatory body voted to pass the deal without changes, establishing how the utility can bill for fuel costs and storm damage restoration expenses.
State regulators approve rate cuts
What we know:
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 3-2 to reject several utility cost amendments before ultimately passing the overall deal. Under the approved agreement, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month will see monthly bills decrease by roughly $4.03 to $4.04. Total annual savings across all 2.8 million Georgia Power customers are projected to reach approximately $285 million.
The deal reduces how much money the utility can recover from its customer base for storm expenses by nearly 60%, dropping the revenue requirement from $270 million down to $109 million. The agreement also extends the amortization of storm recovery costs, largely tied to Hurricane Helene in 2024, to 67 months, caps natural gas advance purchases at 20% over a 36-month window, and cuts $13 million from the company’s original fuel recovery estimates.
Accountability questions remain unresolved
What we don’t know:
While the PSC agreed to launch a separate investigation into how fuel costs are allocated, officials have not yet confirmed how much large industrial operations will be forced to pay in future rate cases. Consumer advocacy groups argue that massive data center companies are driving up fuel costs for everyday ratepayers without paying for the infrastructure upgrades they require. Critics note that it remains unclear if a future utility asset structure will successfully shift financial burdens away from residential homes.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from official press releases issued by the Georgia Public Service Commission and Georgia Power, as well as previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting.
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