Real Borrowers, Real Reasons survey: Who is taking out personal loans and why

The past five years have presented many Americans with financial headaches of all sorts: high grocery costs, steep housing prices, job uncertainty, COVID-related setbacks, and more. To cope with busted budgets and expenses that just can’t wait, more and more households are borrowing money in the form of unsecured personal loans. As of April 2025, the average balance per consumer stood at more than $11,600, according to TransUnion.

To learn more about why people get personal loans and how those personal loans are used, in April SoFi conducted its Real Borrowers, Real Reasons survey. Participants included 1,000 adults across the country who have taken out at least one personal loan in the past five years. More

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