As the personal finance website WalletHub points out, student debt is a huge problem in America. According to the website, with the exception of mortgages, student loans make up the largest component of household debt for Americans.
With student-loan debtors in mind, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 11 key measures of indebtedness and earning opportunities. Virginia came in reasonably well, ranking as the state with the 30th highest student loan debt.
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, total outstanding college-loan balances stood at $1.59 trillion, according to the Department of Education. That comes out to an average of $37,000 for each of the 42.9 million borrowers.
To determine the best and worst states for student debt, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions: “student-loan indebtedness” and “grant and student work opportunities.” The website then evaluated those dimensions using 11 relevant metrics.
The metrics used in the “student-loan indebtedness” dimension were the average student debt, the proportion of students with debt, student debt as a share of income, the share of student loans in past-due or default status, and the share of federal student loan borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan.
Across the “grant and student work opportunities” dimension, the metrics used to determine the rankings of the states and the District of Columbia were the unemployment rate among the population aged 25 to 34, the underemployment rate, the availability of student jobs, the availability of paid internships, the grant growth, and the presence of a “student loan ombudsmen” law.
The ten states with the highest student loan debt were 1) West Virginia 2) New Hampshire 3) Pennsylvania 4) South Dakota 5) Mississippi 6) North Dakota 7) Delaware 8) Michigan 9) Wisconsin and 10) Ohio.
The ten places with the lowest student loan debt were 42) Hawaii 43) Colorado 44) Alaska 45) Washington 46) Florida 47) New Mexico 48) Wyoming 49) California 50) District of Columbia and 51) Utah.