1 IN 4 WHO CHARGED GROCERIES STRUGGLED TO REPAY: STUDY
Grocery credit card debt left more than one in four working-age adults who swiped for food struggling to repay, a study found.
The Urban Institute released its report on July 13, 2026, using its nationally representative Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey. Among working-age adults who put groceries on a credit card in 2025, more than one in four either paid less than the full balance or did not always make the minimum payment.
The hardest hit were lower-income households. Marketplace quoted report co-author Kassandra Martinchek, who said “more than half of low- and moderate-income adults who used credit cards to purchase groceries faced repayment challenges.”
Higher-income adults had an easier time. Just over a third of them did not always pay the full balance.
Missed minimum payments are climbing
In 2025, 8.7% of working-age adults did not always make the minimum payment on credit card grocery purchases. That was up from 7.1% in 2023.
Rising prices appear to be part of the story. Just over half of working-age adults said their grocery costs went up a lot over the prior 12 months.
Among those who reported a big jump, 12.4% did not make the minimum payment on grocery-related card bills. The rate was far lower for people who saw only a small increase or none at all.
Food-at-home prices rose 2.7% between June 2025 and June 2026, The Spokesman-Review reported.
Plastic is a major way Americans pay for food. Nearly two-thirds of working-age adults used a credit card for groceries in 2025, International Business Times UK reported. The Urban Institute report said credit cards account for over one-third of all grocery transactions.
Buy now, pay later and savings
Credit cards were not the only tool. Nearly one in 10 working-age adults used buy now, pay later to cover groceries in 2025, and 34.8% of those users missed a payment.
Yahoo Finance reported that about half of low-income adults using BNPL for groceries missed a payment. That compared with about a third of moderate-income adults and a quarter of high-income adults.
About one in five working-age adults dipped into long-term savings to pay for groceries.
Missing a minimum payment can be costly. Yahoo Finance reported that consumers who fail to make one can face late fees and penalty interest rates.
The survey was conducted in December 2025 and included more than 10,000 adults, including more than 7,500 of working age.
The report warns that taking on grocery debt can leave families less able to meet basic needs in the future.
