Debt Free in 2012 and Before

A new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland examines a representative sample of Americans to determine what percentage of individuals were debt free in 2012.

And the number is...26 percent. Slightly more than one in four Americans were debt free in 2012. Using data from Equifax's Consumer Credit Panel, the researchers traced the debt history of these debt-free individuals back to 2007 and 2000, finding...

• 20 percent had no debt in all three time periods 
• 32 percent were debtors in 2000, but debt free in 2007 and 2012
• 40 percent were debtors in both 2000 and 2007, but debt free in 2012
• 8 percent were debt free in 2000, debtors in 2007, and debt free again in 2012

To calculate the percentage of all Americans who were debt free in the three years examined (you could call them the Debt Averse), multiply the 26 percent who were debt free in 2012 by the 20 percent who were also debt free in 2007 and 2000. And the result is a tiny 5 percent.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, The Evolution of Debt Balances