Millennials, more than any other age group, spent more money paying down their debts between 2019 and 2021, according to a recent study outlined in Fast Company. The study, from online loan firm LendingTree, looked at the anonymous credit reports of 340,000 people over the past two years to see who was paying off the most debt.
What they found was that millennials reduced their debts by, on average, $9,117. This was the largest decrease among generational groups. Gen X, for example, paid an average of $3,770 from their debts, while Gen Z paid $2,500. Baby Boomers, by contrast, actually increased their debts in the same period by an average amount of $8,848.
While one may admire such diligence and thrift, one may also wish to note that millennials have more debt than most. Bloomberg last month, for example, that while credit card debt and mortgage debt are within average ranges, those with education debt are almost twice that of Gen X and three times that of boomers.