MS is the worst state for student debt, WalletHub study finds. Here’s why
Student loans make up the second-largest amount of household debt for Americans after mortgages, and Mississippians have the worst student loan debt burden out of any state in the country, a recent analysis found.
The analysis by WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across measures pointing to indebtedness and earning opportunities, experts said.
Here’s what to know about student debt in Mississippi.
What makes MS the worst state for student loan debt?
Mississippi scored the highest, at 64.93, on WalletHub’s student loan debt analysis. The second-worst state for student loan debt, New Hampshire, scored a 63.56, according to the analysis.
Mississippi has the highest student debt as percentage of income with the average amount owed by residents being about 56% of the median income in the state, the study found.
Mississippi also has the 14th highest default rate in the country, which could also be attributed to Mississippi’s lack of job availability for graduating students, analysts said.
Which states are the worst for most student loan debt?
These are the top 10 states with the highest student loan debt, according to the WalletHub study:
1. Mississippi
2. New Hampshire
3. Pennsylvania
4. Delaware
5. South Dakota
6. South Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. West Virginia
9. New Jersey
10. Ohio
Which states are the best for student loan debt?
These are the 10 states with the lowest student loan debt, according to the WalletHub study:
1. Hawaii
2. Utah
3. California
4. New Mexico
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Colorado
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Nevada
10. Alaska
How did personal finance website compare states?
WalletHub used 12 key measures, ranging from average amount of student debt to the state employment rate, to learn which states had the most and least student debt
“We determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample,” analysts said.
