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Debt – Student Loan Debt

This indicator reports data from a 2 percent nationally representative panel of deidentified, consumer-level records from a major credit bureau at the national, state, and county levels for the 50 states and Washington, DC, as of 2023, compiled by the Urban Institute. The share with any student loan debt, as well as the median student loan debt and the monthly payment, within the report area is shown as below.

Note: Data are not reported where a state or county has fewer than 50 credit bureau data records.

Source

Source Description

The Urban Institute is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit research organization focused on economic and social policy research about the well-being of people and places in the United States.

Methodology

This indicator reports information derived from a 2 percent nationally representative panel of deidentified, consumer-level records from a major credit bureau. The credit bureau data are from February 2022 and contain more than 5 million records. The data also incorporate estimates from summary tables of the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). ACS one-year estimates (2019) is used where possible, but for areas with smaller populations and for metrics that incorporate zip code–level information, the ACS five-year estimates (2015–19). People of color are defined as those who are African American, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, another race other than white, or multiracial.

Debt in collections includes past-due credit lines that have been closed and charged-off on the creditor’s books as well as unpaid bills reported to the credit bureaus that the creditor is attempting to collect. For example, credit card accounts enter collections once they are 180 days past due. Retail installment loans are retail purchases with installment terms—for example, a loan from a furniture store to buy a couch. Data are reported at the national, state, and county levels for the 50 states and Washington, DC. For more information, please see the technical appendix.

Note:
Credit bureau metrics are not reported when they are based on fewer than 50 people.

Data Breakouts Available

  • Share with Student Loan Debt by Race
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