One in three adults in the U.S. uses credit cards to buy food due to the rising cost of living

A study by the Urban Institute published in July 2026 reveals that one in three working-age adults in the United States relied on their credit card to purchase food in the past year, indicating a decline in the purchasing power of millions of families.

The study, which analyzes adults aged 18 to 64, found that 63.2% of that group used a credit card to pay for groceries in 2025, albeit with varying levels of financial stress.

Of the total, 34.9% managed to pay off the full balance each month, 19.6% only covered the minimum payment without settling the debt, and 8.7% were not always able to make even that minimum payment.

This last indicator reveals a concerning trend: in 2023, it was 7.1%, which means that over two years, the proportion of adults in a situation of greater financial vulnerability has steadily increased.

The report also identified the rise of a relatively new financing method: nearly one in ten working-age adults utilized "buy now, pay later" services to purchase food, and 34.8% of those users missed at least one payment.

More than half of the respondents—51.3%—stated that their food costs have increased significantly in the past 12 months, and among that group, 12.4% were not always able to cover the minimum payment on their credit card.

The economic background explains the accumulated pressure: food prices have risen by 33% since 2019, while wages have only increased by 29% during the same period, eroding the purchasing power of large segments of the population.

The annual food inflation reached 4.2% in May 2026, with fruits and vegetables rising by 6.1% compared to the previous year.

Basic products like ground beef illustrate the concrete impact: the pound reached $6.82 in June 2026, a 79% increase compared to prices at the beginning of 2019.

Overall inflation in April 2026 was 3.8% year-on-year, the highest in three years, while supermarket prices increased by 3.6% compared to the same month the previous year.

The context is exacerbated by other factors: 48% of adults in the United States live paycheck to paycheck, and three million people lost access to food stamps in 2026, which forces low-income households to rely even more on credit to meet basic needs.

The total credit card debt in the United States exceeded $1.17 trillion in 2024, a figure that reflects a structural trend in which financing everyday consumption with debt has become a reality for tens of millions of families.