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More and more people are finding themselves living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region. In some places, rent has doubled. The cost of everyday goods — like gas and groceries — keeps creeping up. All the while, wages lag behind and the affordable housing crisis looms. Amid cost-of-living increases, WUSF is focused on documenting how people are making ends meet.

Floridians have slightly less household debt than the national average

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Overall debt in Florida is increasing but slightly below the national average, according to the latest quarterly report on household debt from the Federal Reserve.

Florida's household debt is slightly lower than the national average, at around $62,800 per capita.

That's outpacing debt carried by residents in states like New York and Michigan, but below California, Arizona and Nevada, according to the latest quarterly report on household debt and credit released by the Federal Reserve.

There are some areas of the budget where Floridians owe more compared to the rest of the country, like auto loans and credit card payments.

On average, Floridians pay $6,690 in auto loan payments compared to an average of $5,790 nationally, as well as $4,920 toward credit card debt compared to $4,270 nationally, according to Q2 2026 household debt and credit report.

While Floridians' debt is more concentrated in auto loans and credit cards, residents owe the most money toward mortgage balances.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said those trends are related; when borrowers have high mortgage payments, they tend to neglect other lines of credit.

"Real estate is astronomically high in Florida, and when people have a mortgage payment, that seems to take precedence," he said. "And when you're in an economy where wages aren't keeping up at the rate of inflation, consumers are having to make choices."

In Florida, where residents carry about $63,000 in debt per capita, balances are broken down by about $43,000 in mortgage balances, $7,000 in auto loans, $5,000 in credit card payments and another $5,000 in student loan debt.

The delinquency rate in Florida is higher than the national average across all debt types, with about 4% of balances at least 90 days overdue.

Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.

I tell stories about living paycheck to paycheck for public radio at WUSF News. I’m also a corps member of Report For America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms.
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