As we near the 2020 presidential election several candidates, such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are proposing the cancellation or refinancing of massive student loan debt in America. WalletHub, an informative personal-finance website, just released its report on 2019’s States with the Most and Least Student Debt.
To determine the states that are friendliest toward student-loan debtors, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from average student debt to unemployment rate among the population aged 25 to 34 to share of students with past-due loan balances.
Student Debt in D.C. (1=Most; 25=Avg.)
- 15th – Avg. Student Debt
- 48th – Proportion of Students with Debt
- 51st – Student Debt as % of Income (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
- 47th – % of Student Loans Past Due or in Default
10.9 percent of all student-loan debts 90+ days delinquent or in default as of Q1 2019. Save for mortgages, student loans make up the largest component of household debt for Americans. This makes the collective debt keep growing. At the end of the first quarter of 2018, total outstanding college-loan balances disclosed on credit reports stood at $1.49 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Bad news: not all states are equal when it comes to the burden of student loans.
Tip: If you’re considering borrowing money for college or are in danger of defaulting, use a Student Loan Calculator to determine an affordable monthly payment and payoff timeline.