UNDATED – With the average student loan debt reaching over $37,000 per borrower, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s States with the Most and Least Student Debt, as well as expert commentary.
To determine the states that are friendliest toward student-loan debtors, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from average student debt to unemployment rate among the population aged 25 to 34 to share of students with past-due loan balances.
| States with the Most Student Debt | States with the Least Student Debt |
| 1. Pennsylvania | 42. Alaska |
| 2. Delaware | 43. Nevada |
| 3. Mississippi | 44. Colorado |
| 4. West Virginia | 45. Florida |
| 5. South Dakota | 46. Washington |
| 6. Ohio | 47. California |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Wyoming |
| 8. South Carolina | 49. New Mexico |
| 9. Georgia | 50. Hawaii |
| 10. New Jersey | 51. Utah |
Best vs. Worst
- Utah has the lowest average student debt, $18,344, which is 2.2 times lower than in New Hampshire, the state with the highest at $39,928.
- Utah has the lowest proportion of students with debt, 39.00 percent, which is 1.9 times lower than in South Dakota, the state with the highest at 73.00 percent.
- Maine has the lowest share of student loans in past-due or default status, 0.38 percent, which is 5.6 times lower than in Alaska, the state with the highest at 2.12 percent.
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
