Americans owe billions and billions of dollars in student loan debt — more than a trillion, actually — $1.62 trillion, to be exact. That’s more than the gross national product of Spain, and student loan debt is the second biggest bucket of consumer debt, behind only mortgage debt.
While student debt is nothing new, the sheer size is. Since 2007, even after adjusting for the red-hot inflation the U.S. has experienced since the pandemic, total federal student loan debt has more than doubled.
About 43 million Americans have student loan debt, meaning this issue touches individuals and families from all walks of life, which is a big reason it’s such a major political issue. But residents of some states are carrying more of the student loan burden than others. We analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Census Bureau to compare the states and D.C. across several angles of the student loan issue to see where people are struggling the most.
A few key findings:
- Student loan debt has more than doubled: Since 2007, total federal student loan debt has more than doubled, even after adjusting for inflation, rising from $516 billion to $1.62 trillion in 2024.
- High-impact borrowers concentrated in a few states: D.C., Maryland and Georgia are leading the nation in average student loan debt per borrower, with D.C. borrowers carrying more than $54,000 on average, compared to a national average of just over $36,000.
- Pandemic effects on student loan payment pauses: The number of borrowers in deferment, forbearance or default surged to more than 33 million in 2022 due to the pandemic, but has since decreased to 10.2 million in 2024.
- Income-debt disparity by state: Mississippi leads the nation with a 49% average student debt-to-income ratio, reflecting a significant burden, while states like Massachusetts (26%) and California (28%) have some of the lowest ratios.
U.S. Student Loan Debt
Student debt comes in a distant second when compared to other types of consumer debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. While credit card debt isn’t terribly behind student debt, the average burden for credit card borrowers is a drop in the bucket compared to what student borrowers face — the average student loan balance is nearly nine times the average credit card balance.
And as we referenced earlier, even if we were to adjust numbers for inflation, total student loan debt has more than doubled in the past decade-plus, rising from a non-adjusted $516 billion in 2007 to today’s $1.62 trillion.
Perhaps not surprisingly, more people are finding it a challenge to pay their student loans, though the share of people in deferment, forbearance or default has come down considerably since the dark days of the pandemic.
In 2013, about 7.5 million recipients were having their payments deferred, had been granted forbearance or were simply in default; today that number isn’t dramatically higher (just over 10 million), but it surged to more than 33 million in 2022 when most student loan payments were paused due to the pandemic.
The total amount in deferment, forbearance or default has also climbed, rising by an inflation-adjusted 45% since 2013. It’s important to note here that the Biden Administration has taken multiple actions to forgive student loan debt, though some of those efforts have been rejected by courts. Still, the administration takes credit for providing debt relief for about 5 million education borrowers to the tune of $175 billion since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
Student Debt by State
No state has more total student loan debt than California, with a total of more than $148 billion, but that is logical considering that more people live in the Golden State than in any other, a point that’s reinforced by the fact that second most populous state Texas is also second in total student loan debt ($128 billion).
Adjusting for differences in population reveals a different picture. The District of Columbia has the highest average student loan debt load, more than $54,000 per borrower, followed by Maryland (about $44,000) and Georgia (just over $42,000). At the other end of the scale are North Dakota, with the lowest average debt load (just under $30,000), behind Iowa and Wyoming, both around $31,000 on average.
Overall, the average U.S. student loan borrower owes just over $36,000.
Of course, many borrowers owe considerably more than the national average of $36,213. In fact, about 16% of borrowers nationally owe at least $100,000, though in every state, the largest group of borrowers owe $20,000 or less.
Interestingly, a handful of states have high shares of high-ticket borrowers, those who owe more than $200,000, namely D.C. (16%), Maryland (11%) and Georgia (10%)
Debt & Income
Student debt is often seen as an investment in a future (potentially lucrative) career, though not every borrower is concerned with making the highest salary they can. Still, looking at the debt-to-income ratio provides another way of understanding where student borrowers are doing the best (or worst).
The average household income in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is $109,160, which means that for the average borrower, their student debt load is just over one-third of their household income. (It’s worth noting here that in many households, more than one person will have student loan debt.)
On the state level, this ranges from a low of 26% in Massachusetts to a high of 49% in Mississippi.
Looking at average debt to average household income (as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau)
Conclusion
Half of Americans favor federal student loan debt forgiveness for at least some borrowers, according to a May 2024 YouGov survey, which found that 18% say all student debt should be canceled, while another 32% said some debt should be forgiven. But notably, despite high balances, 34% said no student loan debt should be wiped away. Meanwhile, the 40 million-plus Americans who have student loan debt continue to look for ways to fit payments into their budgets.
Methodology
Most of our data came from Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education. Included in the data are Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and Perkins Loans with outstanding balances.
For all years except 2024, figures are as of Q4; 2024 figures are through Q2, which was the most commonly available period among the Federal Student Aid datasets.
To compare student loan debt to household income, we consulted reports from the U.S. Census Bureau, and we used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.