States with the Highest Student Loan Debt in 2022
With the recent announcement that up to $10,000 in student loan debt could be forgiven for individuals, we were curious to know just how this would impact students.
Our analysts at Scholarship Institute took a dive into national numbers to find out the average student loan debt in every state along with which age groups have the most student loans to pay off—and it was not what we expected.
Check out the interactive map below to find out just how much student loan debt individuals in your state have!
Interesting Findings
- The District of Columbia has the highest average student loan debt in the entire country at $55,508 per borrower
- The lowest student loan debt per borrower is in North Dakota, with $29,885
- Borrowers ages 50-61 have the most student loan debt to pay back, with an average of $45,146 per borrower
- While Gen Z has the lowest amount of student loan debt, borrowers that are under the age of 24 still have an average of over $15,000 in student loan debt—and they’re still adding to that as they pursue college degrees
| State | Rank 1 = highest student loans | Average Student Loan Debt Per Borrower | Total Student Loan Debt for State | Total Number of Borrowers |
| District of Columbia | 1 | $55,508 | $6,500,000,000 | 117,100 |
| Maryland | 2 | $43,619 | $36,300,000,000 | 832,200 |
| Georgia | 3 | $42,207 | $69,300,000,000 | 1,641,900 |
| Virginia | 4 | $39,892 | $43,000,000,000 | 1,077,900 |
| South Carolina | 5 | $38,915 | $28,400,000,000 | 729,800 |
| Florida | 6 | $38,889 | $102,100,000,000 | 2,625,400 |
| Illinois | 7 | $38,526 | $62,300,000,000 | 1,617,100 |
| New York | 8 | $38,400 | $93,900,000,000 | 2,445,300 |
| Delaware | 9 | $38,371 | $4,900,000,000 | 127,700 |
| North Carolina | 10 | $38,287 | $49,800,000,000 | 1,300,700 |
| Alabama | 11 | $37,832 | $23,800,000,000 | 629,100 |
| Hawaii | 12 | $37,798 | $4,600,000,000 | 121,700 |
| Vermont | 13 | $37,760 | $2,900,000,000 | 76,800 |
| Mississippi | 14 | $37,606 | $16,400,000,000 | 436,100 |
| Oregon | 15 | $37,560 | $20,200,000,000 | 537,800 |
| California | 16 | $37,366 | $146,000,000,000 | 3,907,300 |
| Colorado | 17 | $37,215 | $28,700,000,000 | 771,200 |
| Tennessee | 18 | $36,869 | $31,700,000,000 | 859,800 |
| Michigan | 19 | $36,643 | $51,300,000,000 | 1,400,000 |
| New Jersey | 20 | $36,301 | $43,300,000,000 | 1,192,800 |
| Pennsylvania | 21 | $36,103 | $65,300,000,000 | 1,808,700 |
| Washington | 22 | $36,025 | $28,200,000,000 | 782,800 |
| Connecticut | 23 | $35,931 | $17,800,000,000 | 495,400 |
| Missouri | 24 | $35,904 | $29,700,000,000 | 827,200 |
| Arizona | 25 | $35,730 | $31,600,000,000 | 884,400 |
| Ohio | 26 | $35,240 | $62,600,000,000 | 1,776,400 |
| Louisiana | 27 | $35,118 | $22,700,000,000 | 646,400 |
| Massachusetts | 28 | $34,953 | $31,300,000,000 | 895,500 |
| New Mexico | 29 | $34,407 | $7,800,000,000 | 226,700 |
| New Hampshire | 30 | $34,373 | $6,500,000,000 | 189,100 |
| Alaska | 31 | $34,175 | $2,300,000,000 | 67,300 |
| Minnesota | 32 | $34,161 | $26,700,000,000 | 781,600 |
| Nevada | 33 | $34,058 | $11,900,000,000 | 349,400 |
| Arkansas | 34 | $34,056 | $13,200,000,000 | 387,600 |
| Montana | 35 | $34,046 | $4,300,000,000 | 126,300 |
| Maine | 36 | $33,889 | $6,300,000,000 | 185,900 |
| Texas | 37 | $33,442 | $121,800,000,000 | 3,642,100 |
| Indiana | 38 | $33,363 | $30,000,000,000 | 899,200 |
| Kansas | 39 | $33,351 | $12,700,000,000 | 380,800 |
| Kentucky | 40 | $33,322 | $19,900,000,000 | 597,200 |
| Utah | 41 | $33,214 | $10,200,000,000 | 307,100 |
| Idaho | 42 | $33,149 | $7,200,000,000 | 217,200 |
| Rhode Island | 43 | $32,936 | $4,700,000,000 | 142,700 |
| Wisconsin | 44 | $32,576 | $23,500,000,000 | 721,400 |
| Nebraska | 45 | $32,573 | $8,000,000,000 | 245,600 |
| West Virginia | 46 | $32,329 | $7,300,000,000 | 225,800 |
| Oklahoma | 47 | $32,125 | $15,600,000,000 | 485,600 |
| South Dakota | 48 | $31,979 | $3,700,000,000 | 115,700 |
| Wyoming | 49 | $31,365 | $1,700,000,000 | 54,200 |
| Iowa | 50 | $30,988 | $13,300,000,000 | 429,200 |
| North Dakota | 51 | $29,885 | $2,600,000,000 | 87,000 |
Methodology
To find the average student loan debt per borrower in each state and age group, we looked at student loan figures from the Federal Student Aid Office of the U.S. Department of Education. We calculated the average debt by dividing the total amount of loans for each state and age group by the total number of borrowers for their corresponding categories.
