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The household debt service ratio (DSR) is the ratio of total required household debt payments to total disposable income.

The DSR is divided into two parts. The mortgage DSR is total quarterly required mortgage payments divided by total quarterly disposable personal income. The consumer DSR is total quarterly scheduled consumer debt payments divided by total quarterly disposable personal income. The mortgage DSR and the consumer DSR sum to the DSR.

Quarterly values for the DSR calculated using the current methodology are available from 2005 forward. Quarterly values for the DSR calculated using a previous methodology are available from 1980 through 2024.

The current methodology estimates total payments on mortgages, consumer loans (including student loans and automobile loans), and lines of credit using scheduled required payments reported in credit bureau data. The sum of these payments is divided by disposable personal income as reported in the National Income and Product Accounts. Further details on the calculations and the sample used are provided in Ringo (2024).

The previous methodology estimated total payments using estimates of outstanding balances, average interest rates, and times until maturity from a variety of data sources and dividing the sum of payments by disposable personal income. The sources of data and methods for calculating the payment series are described in Dynan, Johnson, and Pence (2003). Ringo (2024) describes the differences between the series. Notably, the current methodology includes escrow payments for mortgage borrowers (i.e., property taxes and insurance if they are bundled into the mortgage payment), whereas the previous methodology did not.

Works Cited
Dynan, Karen, Kathleen Johnson, and Karen Pence, "Recent Changes to a Measure of U.S. Household Debt Service," Federal Reserve Bulletin 89 (October 2003): 417.

Ringo, Daniel, "Introducing a Credit Bureau-Based Measure of U.S. Household Debt Service," FEDS Notes (2024).

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