Mean (not median) household income in the US is $70k, I saw one source that it's more like 100-110 for married households with children.

It is literally impossible for those families to pay off a $12k balance every month. Factor in that you often can't pay rent, mortgage or car payments from a credit card and it's not even close.

(The fact that you save up and spend and then pay 10-12k in one month is irrelevant. Because of aggregation, what's relevant is your average month).