Original research · New York Fed data
Student loan debt by state, 2026
How much student loan debt the average adult carries in every state, how it has moved since 2019, and where borrowers are seriously behind. Compiled from the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel, data through Q4 2025.
Published September 20, 2026 · Download the CSV · How to cite
Key findings
$5,460
Student loan debt per adult nationally at the end of Q4 2025, -1.8% in a year and -0.9% since the end of 2019.
$12,650
District of Columbia carries the highest balance per adult. Georgia ($7,120) and Maryland ($6,830) follow.
$3,180
Wyoming has the lowest, 75% below District of Columbia. Hawaii and Alaska are next lowest.
8.3%
Share of student loan balances 90+ days delinquent or in default nationally, against 11.1% at the end of 2019. Mississippi is highest at 13.4%.
+7.7%
Arkansas saw the fastest growth in student debt since 2019. Louisiana and Alabama were next at +7.7% and +6.8%.
24 of 51
States (plus DC) above the national per-adult figure.
Student loan debt per adult, every state ranked
Balance per adult with a credit file at the end of Q4 2025. The dashed line marks the national figure of $5,460.
Full table: balances, growth and delinquency by state
Click a column header to sort. Share of student loan balances 90+ days delinquent or in default.
| # | State | Per adult, Q4 2025 | vs 2024 | vs 2019 | Seriously delinquent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $12,650 | -1.2% | -5.7% | 5.6% |
| 2 | Georgia | $7,120 | -3.5% | -4.3% | 10.7% |
| 3 | Maryland | $6,830 | -2.7% | -1.2% | 8.2% |
| 4 | New Jersey | $6,540 | +0.2% | +5.3% | 7.3% |
| 5 | Connecticut | $6,470 | 0.0% | +5.0% | 9.1% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | $6,450 | -0.9% | +0.5% | 7.8% |
| 7 | Delaware | $6,320 | 0.0% | +4.1% | 9.3% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $6,120 | -1.6% | -1.0% | 5.7% |
| 9 | Mississippi | $6,120 | -3.8% | +3.7% | 13.4% |
| 10 | South Carolina | $6,120 | -0.5% | +1.2% | 11.1% |
| 11 | Virginia | $6,100 | -1.5% | +0.8% | 6.7% |
| 12 | New York | $6,060 | -0.7% | -1.9% | 7.7% |
| 13 | Louisiana | $6,010 | -2.3% | +7.7% | 11.9% |
| 14 | New Hampshire | $5,950 | +1.9% | +1.0% | 4.8% |
| 15 | Illinois | $5,940 | +0.5% | -0.5% | 7.8% |
| 16 | Ohio | $5,860 | -4.2% | -7.3% | 8.5% |
| 17 | Minnesota | $5,820 | -4.7% | -7.8% | 5.8% |
| 18 | Colorado | $5,760 | -4.0% | -7.5% | 7.5% |
| 19 | Michigan | $5,700 | -2.9% | -3.6% | 7.7% |
| 20 | Vermont | $5,670 | -0.7% | -3.6% | 7.5% |
| 21 | North Carolina | $5,630 | -0.9% | +2.9% | 10.7% |
| 22 | Rhode Island | $5,630 | +1.8% | -0.2% | 7.2% |
| 23 | Oregon | $5,600 | -0.2% | -3.8% | 6.9% |
| 24 | Alabama | $5,470 | -1.6% | +6.8% | 11.2% |
| 25 | Maine | $5,320 | -1.7% | -2.2% | 5.6% |
| 26 | Kentucky | $5,270 | -1.3% | +5.8% | 9.2% |
| 27 | Kansas | $5,190 | -2.4% | -6.3% | 10.0% |
| 28 | Missouri | $5,180 | -4.6% | -3.5% | 6.8% |
| 29 | Texas | $5,140 | -2.5% | +0.8% | 9.5% |
| 30 | Tennessee | $5,120 | -2.3% | -1.3% | 7.6% |
| 31 | Florida | $5,110 | 0.0% | +1.8% | 9.2% |
| 32 | Nebraska | $4,990 | -2.5% | -3.5% | 7.2% |
| 33 | Arizona | $4,960 | -2.7% | -5.7% | 8.1% |
| 34 | Arkansas | $4,890 | -3.4% | +7.7% | 7.6% |
| 35 | North Dakota | $4,880 | -5.8% | -11.3% | 7.3% |
| 36 | Indiana | $4,830 | -3.8% | -8.7% | 8.4% |
| 37 | South Dakota | $4,820 | -3.8% | -6.4% | 5.8% |
| 38 | Iowa | $4,730 | -3.3% | -11.3% | 6.6% |
| 39 | California | $4,650 | -1.1% | +0.2% | 7.5% |
| 40 | Wisconsin | $4,600 | -3.0% | -6.9% | 4.3% |
| 41 | Oklahoma | $4,490 | -3.0% | -1.5% | 8.8% |
| 42 | Idaho | $4,480 | -5.3% | -10.8% | 6.2% |
| 43 | Nevada | $4,480 | -1.5% | +4.9% | 8.4% |
| 44 | Montana | $4,390 | -1.8% | -5.0% | 9.9% |
| 45 | Washington | $4,250 | -0.9% | -1.8% | 6.2% |
| 46 | West Virginia | $4,240 | -3.6% | +1.4% | 10.8% |
| 47 | Utah | $3,980 | -2.7% | -7.2% | 5.8% |
| 48 | New Mexico | $3,900 | -6.0% | -4.9% | 7.9% |
| 49 | Alaska | $3,860 | -7.7% | -2.8% | 8.8% |
| 50 | Hawaii | $3,810 | -7.1% | +0.8% | 8.4% |
| 51 | Wyoming | $3,180 | -9.9% | -13.8% | 9.6% |
| United States | $5,460 | -1.8% | -0.9% | 8.3% |
Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, Q4 2025. Per adult with a credit file. Compiled by Smart Debt Relief; not affiliated with or endorsed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Where student debt is growing fastest
Nationally, student loan debt per adult moved -0.9% between the end of 2019 and the end of 2025. The fastest growth: Arkansas (+7.7%), Louisiana (+7.7%), Alabama (+6.8%), Kentucky (+5.8%) and New Jersey (+5.3%). The slowest: Wyoming (-13.8%), North Dakota (-11.3%) and Iowa (-11.3%).
Over the most recent year alone, New Hampshire (+1.9%), Rhode Island (+1.8%) and Illinois (+0.5%) moved most, against a national -1.8%.
Student loan balances per adult are spread by where graduates live and work rather than where they studied, which is why the District of Columbia and states with large professional workforces sit at the top of the table.
Delinquency on federal student loans was largely suppressed by payment pauses and the on-ramp period from 2020 until late 2024, so the Q4 2025 rate is the first full year in which missed payments were reported to credit bureaus again. Compare it with 2019 rather than with 2021 to 2024.
Where people are falling behind
Share of student loan balances 90+ days delinquent or in default stood at 8.3% nationally at the end of 2025, against 11.1% at the end of 2019. The five highest:
- Mississippi: 13.4% (balance per adult $6,120, rank 9 by balance)
- Louisiana: 11.9% (balance per adult $6,010, rank 13 by balance)
- Alabama: 11.2% (balance per adult $5,470, rank 24 by balance)
- South Carolina: 11.1% (balance per adult $6,120, rank 10 by balance)
- West Virginia: 10.8% (balance per adult $4,240, rank 46 by balance)
The five lowest:
- Wisconsin: 4.3%
- New Hampshire: 4.8%
- District of Columbia: 5.6%
- Maine: 5.6%
- Massachusetts: 5.7%
What per-adult figures do and do not mean
These numbers divide total student loan debt in each state by the number of adults with an Equifax credit file, including people who carry none. That makes them a good measure of a state's overall debt load, but they understate what an individual borrower typically owes. The student loan tables use a 1% sample of credit files rather than the 5% sample used for other debt types, so state figures carry more sampling variation.
Related on this site: Student loan consolidation deadline · How to pay off credit card debt · Debt payoff calculator.
Methodology
- Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Center for Microeconomic Data, "State Level Household Debt Statistics 2003-2025", published February 2026, sheet studentloan / studentloan_delinq (1% sample), based on the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax.
- Per adult means per person aged 18 or older with an Equifax credit file, as defined by the source. Puerto Rico and US territories are excluded by the source.
- Balances are as of Q4 of each year. Year-over-year change compares Q4 2025 with Q4 2024; change since 2019 compares Q4 2025 with Q4 2019.
- Delinquency is the percentage of outstanding balance 90 or more days past due or in default, as reported by the source.
- Rankings and percentage changes were computed by Smart Debt Relief from the source tables. State totals in the source may differ slightly from the New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit because of sampling variation.
Use this data
The underlying figures are published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and remain its data; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Bank. Our own contribution (the compilation, the computed changes and rankings, the charts and the commentary) is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, so you can reuse the compiled table, charts and CSV with a link to this page and the source line below. Suggested citation:
Source: New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, State Level Household Debt Statistics 2003-2025 (February 2026), Q4 2025 figures. Compiled by Smart Debt Relief, "Student Loan Debt by State, 2026", https://smartdebtrelief.org/research/student-loan-debt-by-state/. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Download the CSV. For questions about the compilation, email help@smartdebtrelief.org.
Frequently asked questions
Which state has the highest student loan debt?
District of Columbia has the highest student loan debt per adult at $12,650, followed by Georgia ($7,120) and Maryland ($6,830). The national figure is $5,460.
Which state has the lowest student loan debt?
Wyoming has the lowest at $3,180 per adult, about 75% below District of Columbia.
What is the average student loan debt in the US?
Across all adults with a credit file, student loan debt averaged $5,460 at the end of Q4 2025, -1.8% on a year earlier and -0.9% against the end of 2019. This is a per-adult figure that includes people with no student debt at all, so the average among borrowers is higher.
Where are people most behind on student debt?
Mississippi has the highest share of student loan debt balances seriously delinquent at 13.4%, followed by Louisiana (11.9%) and Alabama (11.2%). The national rate is 8.3%, against 11.1% at the end of 2019.
Where does this data come from?
All figures are from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample of Equifax credit files, published as "State Level Household Debt Statistics 2003-2025" in February 2026. We compiled the tables, computed the changes and rankings, and publish the result as a CSV you can reuse with attribution. We are not affiliated with the Bank.