If you’ve tapped your home’s equity for a renovation, a kid’s tuition, or just to keep up with rising bills, you’re not alone, and the average balance on those loans just crossed a threshold it’s never hit before.
The New Number
The average home equity line of credit balance reached $52,347 in 2026, an 11.2% jump from the year before, according to new research from Experian, one of the three major nationwide credit bureaus. Total HELOC debt across the country climbed even faster, up 12.9% to $427.6 billion, from $378.8 billion in 2025. That’s the first time the average balance has topped the $50,000 mark since Experian began tracking the figure. The growth shows up from a different angle too: Bankrate’s own data center found that total HELOC credit limits issued to borrowers rose by $25 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, a separate signal of the same rapid growth in home-equity borrowing that Experian’s balance figures capture.
Who’s Borrowing the Most
The generational breakdown tells its own story about who’s leaning on home equity hardest. Generation X carries the highest average balance at $63,657, followed by millennials at $60,697. Gen Z, despite generally owning homes for a shorter time, already averages a $46,130 balance and the highest utilization rate of any generation at 60% of their available credit line. Baby boomers, by contrast, carry the lowest average balance at $43,452 and use just 33% of what’s available to them, likely a reflection of longer homeownership tenure and, in many cases, mortgages that are already paid off or close to it.
Where Balances Run Highest
Geography matters enormously here. Hawaii posted the highest average HELOC balance in the country at $93,846, followed by Washington, D.C. at $87,405, both markets where home values, and therefore available equity, run far above the national norm. On the growth side, Charleston, South Carolina and Greenville, South Carolina posted some of the fastest year-over-year increases in HELOC balances, up 18.7% and 18.3% respectively, suggesting homeowners in fast-appreciating Southern metro areas are drawing on new equity almost as quickly as it builds.
Why It’s Happening Now
Experian’s researchers tie the surge to a familiar list of pressures: inflation running at 3.8% annually, climbing home insurance premiums, and rising healthcare costs are pushing more homeowners to treat their equity as a financial backstop rather than reserving it purely for renovations. The average HELOC credit limit nationally now sits at $129,000, meaning most borrowers still have meaningful room left on their lines even at record balances. But the trend line is unmistakable. With mortgage rates still keeping many homeowners from wanting to refinance their primary loan, a HELOC has become the path of least resistance for tapping equity without disturbing an existing low-rate mortgage, and that’s likely to keep balances climbing before it reverses.