At the end of the second quarter of 2024, total outstanding college-loan balances stood at nearly $1.62 trillion, according to the Department of Education. That comes out to an average of nearly $38,000 for each of the 42.8 million borrowers. Not all states are equal when it comes to the burden of student loans, though. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 12 key measures of indebtedness and earning opportunities. Our data set ranges from the average student loan balance to the unemployment rate for 25- to 34-year-olds to the share of students with past-due loan balances.
