Maryland ranks ninth in the nation in the number of credit cards held, while Pennsylvania ranks 12th, according to a new study by WalletHub, a financial services firm.
WalletHub analysts said the average American has more than five open credit cards. Exactly how many cards are manageable varies from person to person and state to state according to their spending habits, though. Having multiple cards in your wallet can help you boost your credit score if you use them responsibly, but they can also lead to the temptation to overspend, those analysts said.
To determine the states where credit card ownership is increasing the most, WalletHub analyzed the latest consumer-finance data across four key metrics. These metrics measured the average number of cards owned per person and average number of new cards opened per person in the third quarter of 2025, as well as the percent change in both of those numbers from the third quarter of 2024. The full study can be found at https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-most-credit-cards/131548.
Overall, Maryland ranked ninth in the number of credit cards overall and 11th in the number of new cards in the third quarter of 2025. Pennsylvania ranked 12th in the number of credit cards overall and 16th in the number of new cards in the third quarter.
