Nearly one-third of Americans have more credit card debt than savings

The number of American households with more emergency savings than credit card debt, 44 percent, is the lowest since 2011 when an annual survey of financial health by Bankrate.com began. CONTINUE to see the top 10 states where Americans are most in debt. less The number of American households with more emergency savings than credit card debt, 44 percent, is the lowest since 2011 when an annual survey of financial health by Bankrate.com began. CONTINUE to see ... more Photo: Sujit Mahapatra - Fotolia Photo: Sujit Mahapatra - Fotolia Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Nearly one-third of Americans have more credit card debt than savings 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Despite a thriving economy with historic low unemployment, an increasing number of Americans – 74 million, or nearly one-third of the population – have more credit card debt than savings.

The number of American households with more emergency savings than credit card debt, 44 percent, is the lowest since 2011 when an annual survey of financial health by Bankrate.com began. The survey found that 29 percent of Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings, the highest in the history of the survey.

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Of those surveyed, 18 percent have neither credit card debt nor emergency savings, up sharply from 12 percent last year.

The deterioration in American households' emergency savings relative to credit card debt extends across both genders; all age, education, and income brackets; and political party affiliations.

Forty-one percent of Americans are focused on paying down debt. But there was a notable decline in those focused on boosting emergency savings, from 53 percent to 43 percent.

"Now is the time – with unemployment low and wages rising – to right-size the equation by paying off high cost credit card debt and adding to emergency savings. Sadly, it looks like we're collectively moving in the wrong direction," says Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com.