Yes, in almost every case. A 22% APR credit card costs you about 4 times more in interest per dollar than a 5.5% mortgage. Paying $100 extra against a credit card saves you about $22 a year in interest. The same $100 extra against a 5.5% mortgage saves you about $5.50 a year. The math is overwhelmingly in favor of attacking credit card debt first.
The interest math. $5,000 in credit card debt at 22% APR generates roughly $1,100 a year in interest. The same $5,000 added to your mortgage at 5.5% generates about $275 a year in interest. Per dollar of principal, the credit card costs you 4 times what the mortgage does. This ratio holds across most balance levels.
The opportunity cost. Every dollar that goes to mortgage principal could have gone to credit card principal at 4x the interest savings. Even if you wanted to be done with your mortgage faster, the cleanest path is to pay off the credit cards first, then redirect the freed-up monthly cash to extra mortgage payments.
Tax-deductibility consideration. Mortgage interest is potentially tax-deductible if you itemize and your loan is below the cap ($750,000 for loans originated after 2017). Credit card interest is never deductible. After tax, a 5.5% mortgage might effectively cost 4.4% (depending on your marginal rate and whether you itemize), while the credit card stays at 22%. The tax adjustment narrows the gap slightly but does not change the conclusion.
The behavioral question. Some homeowners feel emotionally driven to pay down the mortgage because of the size of the debt or the goal of being mortgage-free. This is psychologically understandable but financially costly. Pay the cards off first, then attack the mortgage. The emotional satisfaction of being credit-card-free is also significant and arrives much faster.
The exception: mortgage in distress. If you are behind on the mortgage or facing foreclosure, the priority flips. Foreclosure has consequences that no credit card default produces (loss of home, eviction, foreclosure on credit report for seven years). Make at least the minimum mortgage payment under all circumstances; treat credit cards as the lower priority when housing is at risk.
Other secured debts. The same logic applies to auto loans (typically 6%-9% APR) and personal loans (8%-15% APR). All of them are lower-priority than credit cards (typically 18%-29% APR). Pay all minimums on the secured debts to avoid losing the asset, then put extra against the highest-APR debt, which is almost always the credit cards.
The Dave Ramsey question. Some financial-advice frameworks (notably Ramsey's Total Money Makeover) recommend the snowball method (smallest balance first), which can lead to paying down a small auto loan before a larger credit card. This is a behavioral choice that produces motivational wins. The pure-math choice is always to pay the highest-APR debt first.
Refinance or consolidation alternative. If you have substantial home equity, a HELOC or cash-out refinance could let you pay off credit cards at a lower interest rate. This converts unsecured debt to secured debt (your home is collateral), which is a serious risk if your finances deteriorate. Evaluate carefully; some households who took this path lost their homes when they ran credit cards back up after consolidation.