The national student loan deficit
topped $1.5 trillion in
the summer of 2018.
And, according to a study from Student
Loan Hero, location is an important factor when it comes
to how bad the student debt repayment burden actually is.
The December 2017 study combined the
cost of living, the average annual income, the average student loan balance,
and the percentage of monthly income eaten up by student loan payments
to rank U.S. states.
Student Loan Hero found that Utah,
Washington, North Carolina, Colorado, and Texas were the best place for
borrowers to live.
Hawaii is the worst state for
student loan borrowers.
Nationwide, that average of
disposable income used by student loans is around 14.6%. But in Hawaii,
borrowers lose about 22.2% of their disposable income to loan payments. The
state’s average annual income is $49,430, and borrowers in Hawaii
average $27,822 in student loan balances.
Utah, by contrast, has an average
loan balance of $18,969 and an average annual income of $45,490
High loan balances don’t equal
difficult repayment
Of the top 10 worst places to live
with student loans, eight locations have average loan balances of more than
$30,000 and higher-than-average costs of living.
Because Hawaii ranked the
worst place to live for student borrowers, that doesn’t necessarily make it the
state where students carry the highest debt loads. In fact, Hawaii didn’t crack
the Top 10 when it comes to loan balances.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Washington D.C. are the three areas where borrowers leave school with the
highest loans: $35,196, $35,143, and $33,650, respectively.
They’re followed by Connecticut ($32,211), Rhode Island ($31,497), Alaska
($31,217), Minnesota ($31,198), Montana ($30,994), and Maine ($30,586).
And when you factor in the average
annual income and cost of living, things balance out better in Minnesota than
they do for those in the Capitol. (D.C. is ranked 41th while
Minnesota is ranked 25.)
D.C. residents earn $82,950 on
average, but borrowers there spend 17.68% of their disposable income on
loan repayment. Minnesotans, meanwhile, earn $51,330 and spend an average
of 14.99% on monthly loan payments.
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