FILE-Demonstrators supporting cancelling student debt stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Student loan debt is a rising problem for millions of borrowers searching for ways to pay off their loans.
Right now, the nation’s student loan debt exceeds $1 trillion, with the average federal student loan debt balance at more than $39,000, according to the Education Data Initiative.
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While the paying off student loans is overwhelming for borrowers, not all states are the same when it comes to the financial weight of managing student loans, based on data from a new WalletHub report.
The personal finance website collected its findings by comparing 50 states and Washington, D.C. using 12 key metrics of indebtedness and earning opportunities as well as average student debt to unemployment rate.
States with the most student loan debt
Why you should care:
WalletHub also ranked states focusing on two categories: "student loan indebtedness" and grant and student work opportunities." Each state was graded on a 100-point scale with a perfect score representing the state with the most student debt.
- Mississippi
- New Hampshire
- Pennsylvania
- Delaware
- South Dakota
- South Carolina
- Kentucky
- West Virginia
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Rhode Island
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Nebraska
- Iowa
Evaluating the states with the most student loan debt
Dig deeper:
Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are the top three states with the most student loan debt and here’s what researchers concluded.
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Mississippi
According to WalletHub, Mississippi has the biggest student debt problem in the U.S. The average amount owed by people with student loan debt equals roughly 56% of the median income in the state, the highest rate in the U.S. Mississippi also has the 14th-highest default rate on student debt.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ranks second as the state with the most student loan debt with borrowers in the state owing an average of nearly $40,000, the highest amount in the nation. WalletHub noted that the state also has the highest student default rate in the U.S., and 70% of students have student loans.
The state also has the third-largest decline in state and local grants per in-state student, lowering the amount of aid students receive from public sources. New Hampshire has the sixth-lowest share of borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, minimizing access to repayment options.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania ranks third because it has the third-highest average student debt, at more than $39,000. The average resident with student loan debt owes just under half (44%) of the median income in the state, the sixth-highest rate in the U.S. Moreover, about 64% of students in Pennsylvania have student loan debt, the fourth-highest percentage in the nation.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by WalletHub, which compared the best and worst states for student loan debt and graded each state on a 100-point scale with a perfect score representing states with the most debt. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.