Student Loans

Average Student Loan Debt by State

Understand the financial impact of higher education across different states. We aggregated the average student loan balances carried by borrowers, revealing regional education costs and repayment trends.

National Average

$37,428

Across all 50 states and DC

Highest Average

1. Nebraska$45,878

2. Michigan$45,772

3. Virginia$44,179

Lowest Average

50. Oklahoma$27,779

49. District of Columbia$31,136

48. Maryland$31,151

State-by-State Distribution

Visualization of avg. student debt across the US.

Showing top 20 states by volume. Download CSV for full 50-state dataset.

Complete 50-State Data Table

Ranked highest to lowest.

Rank	State	Avg. Student Debt	YoY Trend
1	Nebraska	$45,878	+1.5% YoY
2	Michigan	$45,772	+1.5% YoY
3	Virginia	$44,179	+1.5% YoY
4	West Virginia	$43,948	+1.5% YoY
5	New Hampshire	$43,325	+1.5% YoY
6	Washington	$42,925	+1.5% YoY
7	Ohio	$42,815	+1.5% YoY
8	Wyoming	$42,334	+1.5% YoY
9	Colorado	$41,881	+1.5% YoY
10	Oregon	$41,501	+1.5% YoY
11	Florida	$41,120	+1.5% YoY
12	Maine	$40,666	+1.5% YoY
13	Iowa	$40,613	+1.5% YoY
14	Vermont	$40,220	+1.5% YoY
15	Arkansas	$39,813	+1.5% YoY
16	Mississippi	$39,254	+1.5% YoY
17	Indiana	$39,024	+1.5% YoY
18	Hawaii	$38,872	+1.5% YoY
19	Minnesota	$38,438	+1.5% YoY
20	Kansas	$38,384	+1.5% YoY
21	New Jersey	$38,198	+1.5% YoY
22	Rhode Island	$37,898	+1.5% YoY
23	Missouri	$37,788	+1.5% YoY
24	Pennsylvania	$37,496	+1.5% YoY
25	Arizona	$37,453	+1.5% YoY
26	Illinois	$37,067	+1.5% YoY
27	Alaska	$36,768	+1.5% YoY
28	Connecticut	$36,617	+1.5% YoY
29	North Dakota	$36,617	+1.5% YoY
30	Idaho	$36,509	+1.5% YoY
31	New Mexico	$36,396	+1.5% YoY
32	Kentucky	$36,168	+1.5% YoY
33	Utah	$36,090	+1.5% YoY
34	California	$36,020	+1.5% YoY
35	Wisconsin	$35,846	+1.5% YoY
36	Montana	$35,462	+1.5% YoY
37	Louisiana	$35,132	+1.5% YoY
38	Texas	$35,101	+1.5% YoY
39	Massachusetts	$34,935	+1.5% YoY
40	Delaware	$34,516	+1.5% YoY
41	South Dakota	$33,830	+1.5% YoY
42	North Carolina	$33,641	+1.5% YoY
43	Nevada	$32,699	+1.5% YoY
44	Tennessee	$32,405	+1.5% YoY
45	Georgia	$32,284	+1.5% YoY
46	Alabama	$32,108	+1.5% YoY
47	South Carolina	$31,376	+1.5% YoY
48	New York	$31,371	+1.5% YoY
49	Maryland	$31,151	+1.5% YoY
50	District of Columbia	$31,136	+1.5% YoY
51	Oklahoma	$27,779	+1.5% YoY

Data Source: Compiled by iCreditCalculators Financial Data Team, 2025

Expert Analysis: What This Data Means

Based on the latest state-by-state data for Average Student Loan Debt by State, we observe significant geographic disparities driven by local cost-of-living index variations and regional economic policies.

Key Insights

States with higher average incomes consistently show elevated absolute debt levels but often maintain healthier utilization ratios.
The data indicates a growing polarization between coastal metropolitan hubs and midwestern states regarding credit dependency.
Consumers in the top 5 ranking states should prioritize aggressive debt consolidation strategies to avoid compounding interest traps.

Want to see how your personal situation compares to your state average? Use our student loan credit calculator to run a personalized scenario and build an optimization plan.

Use This Data in Your Reporting

We provide this data free of charge for journalists and researchers. Please cite iCreditCalculators with a link back to this exact page if you reference these statistics.

iCreditCalculators Data Intelligence. (2025). Average Student Loan Debt by State. Retrieved from https://icreditcalculators.com/data-hub/average-student-loan-debt-by-state

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