Password Trends & Statistics to Know in 2026

Even in 2026 passwords are still the main way most people log in, even though passkeys are catching on fast. But how long are people actually making their passwords? What are the most popular (and worst) ones still in use? How many accounts get compromised every single day? Here are the latest figures pulled from big reports like Verizon DBIR, Google, Have I Been Pwned, NordPass, SplashData and others. We’ll look at what they tell us about real user habits and what it means for keeping your own accounts safe today.

1. Average Password Length in 2026

Things are improving slowly but surely. The average length of leaked passwords is now around 9.8 characters, up from 9.3 a couple of years ago. Still, only about 28% of people pick twelve characters or more, which is the bare minimum experts recommend. And fewer than 8% go for the really strong range of fifteen to sixteen characters.

Why does this matter? Every extra character makes cracking exponentially harder. An eight-character password can be broken in seconds with today’s hardware, while a fifteen-character one could take centuries.

2. The Most Common (and Worst) Passwords Still Around

NordPass and SplashData lists for 2026 don’t look much different from previous years at the bottom:

1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. qwerty
5. admin
6. welcome
7. password1
8. iloveyou
9. monkey
10. sunshine

Some new ones creeping into the top 100 include “chatgpt”, “google123”, “elon2026” and “bitcoin2026”. People still love basing passwords on current trends, names or years.

3. Password Reuse Is Still Extremely Common

Recent studies show some worrying numbers:

• Around 68% of people reuse the same password across different accounts (from a Google survey in 2025)
• The average person has between 100 and 130 online accounts but only remembers three to four passwords
• Credential stuffing attacks still succeed on roughly 0.1 to 2% of attempts, which means millions of successful logins every day

A single password leaked from a low-value site like a forum or shopping account can easily unlock email, banking or even crypto wallets.

4. Breach Statistics – How Big the Problem Is in 2026

• Have I Been Pwned is now tracking about 14.5 billion compromised accounts, up from 12.5 billion in 2024
• The average breach exposes between 50,000 and 200,000 records according to Verizon DBIR 2026
• The hardest-hit sectors are healthcare (33%), finance (21%) and education (15%)
• From breach to actual abuse of credentials usually takes just 12 to 48 hours

5. What These Numbers Mean for You Personally

• If any of your passwords are shorter than twelve characters, they’re crackable pretty fast
• If you reuse passwords across sites, one leak can snowball into many compromised accounts
• If you rely on common patterns or simple words, you’re in the top percentage of easy targets
• If you don’t have alerts set up for breaches, you might find out way too late

6. Practical Steps and Quick Fixes for 2026

1. Aim for at least fifteen characters minimum – our generator can help you create them easily
2. Stop reusing passwords completely – a password manager is essential
3. Turn on passkeys or strong TOTP two-factor authentication wherever possible (skip SMS)
4. Sign up for alerts from Have I Been Pwned and Google or Apple dark web reports
5. Change any password right away if it shows up in a breach notification
6. Freeze your credit reports and keep a regular eye on bank statements

Take a quick look at your own habits today. How many of your passwords would show up on these worst-of lists? If it’s more than zero, now’s the time to fix it.