New data reveals a significant rise in the number of millennials dealing with debt. Facing rising rent, high interest rates and student loan debt, nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International, or MMI, finds millennials are now the age group most asking for help.

It comes as credit card debt nationwide tops $1 trillion with average credit card interest rates higher than ever. But the age group is more likely to do something other generations typically aren't, said Anna Davis, a Philadelphia-based counselor at MMI.

"I will say the positive thing about millennials is they are willing to take action," Davis said. "They actually turn out to be the most receptive to financial counseling."

The agency says the generation born between 1981 and 1995 makes up 43% of new clients seeking debt counseling since the pandemic, leading all other generations. Previously, typical clients were in their 40s and 50s and more focused on retirement, according to MMI.

Millennials seeking counseling are carrying some of the highest auto loans of any generation, topping $28,000, according to the agency. At the same time, nearly half have a growing reliance on credit cards to cover basic necessities like groceries.

In New Jersey, millennials seeking counseling from MMI are carrying the highest debt loads of any state, averaging more than $34,000 in unsecured debt.

MMI generally works with people to reduce interest rates on their credit card debt and develop a plan to pay it off.

Nick March, 33, of Philadelphia, said he initially turned to a credit card as a lifeline. But what started as a necessity quickly snowballed.

"At the time, we weren't really making a lot of money to make ends meet, get groceries. We were going to school," March said. "But since we didn't really have experience with credit cards before, we just kind of let that get a little bit more out of control, doing a little bit of unnecessary spending and then it got to a point where we couldn't really pay the interest on it."

March said he racked up roughly $28,000 in credit card debt, more than four times the current average credit card balance in the U.S., according to TransUnion.

"It was definitely a daunting number," March recalled.

He eventually sought help from MMI, which worked with his creditors to reduce his interest rates and consolidate payments in a debt management plan.

March is now on track to pay off his debt by 2028.

"Having that sort of like end date of when all of this will be paid off is kind of like, 'OK, now we can look at getting a house, now we can, you know, be free of all of this,' and it will feel like a huge weight is lifted off our shoulders," he said.

While Millennials are more likely to carry debt than other generations were at that age, according to this 2024 study by finance site LendingTree, the age group is still in an overall better financial position than their counterparts at similar points in life — particularly when it comes to net worth, assets, income and spending. The findings are adjusted for inflation.

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