While consumer debt does include mortgages, the term covers about any other form of credit given to consumers. Consumer debt includes secured debt as well, such

While consumer debt does include mortgages, the term covers about any other form of credit given to consumers. Consumer debt includes secured debt as well, such as auto loans and certain kinds of household goods such as furniture, appliances, etc. Looking at the figures you linked, you've got $800.5b in REVOLVING debt, which is the unsecured, credit-card type debt people are really worried about. That works out to $6,971 per household (114,825,428 households) or about $2,600 per capita. The non-revolving, or installment debt, typical of auto, furniture, and appliance loans, is about twice as large, at $1,598b, or $13,916 per household and $5,708 per capita. Nowhere near as bleak as they'd like to paint it.