Wondering which cities student loan borrowers struggled the most in? Credible Labs, Inc. took the data from the top 23 most populous cities in the U.S. based on U.S. Census data. We then compared the average income of our borrowers in each of those cities with the average monthly housing payment and their average monthly student loan payment, to see how affordable student loan payments actually are for borrowers across the country.
The following are the average monthly loan payment, monthly housing payment, and annual income for the nearly 9,000 borrowers in the 23 most populous cities in America:
$655 – Average student loan borrower monthly student loan payment
$1,231 – Average student loan borrower monthly housing payment
$77,698 – Average student loan borrower annual income
5 cities where student loans borrowers struggle the most with debt:
- San Jose, CA
- Fort Worth, TX
- Boston, MA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Denver, CO
Source: Source: Credible Labs, Inc.
5 cities where student loans borrowers struggle the least with debt:*
- Dallas, TX
- Jacksonville, FL
- Houston, TX
- Columbus, OH
- Austin, TX
Source: Credible Labs, Inc.
23 cities with highest student loan debt burden
| RANKING* | CITY | AVERAGE BORROWER MONTHLY STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT | AVERAGE BORROWER MONTHLY HOUSING PAYMENT | AVERAGE BORROWER ANNUAL INCOME | STUDENT LOAN & HOUSING COSTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF MONTHLY INCOME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose, California | $572 | $1,661 | $85,129 | 31.47% |
| 2 | Fort Worth, Texas | $548 | $1,209 | $67,042 | 31.45% |
| 3 | Boston, Massachusetts | $689 | $1,226 | $73,186 | 31.40% |
| 4 | Los Angeles, California | $690 | $1,383 | $79,630 | 31.24% |
| 5 | Denver, Colorado | $636 | $1,231 | $71,847 | 31.18% |
| 6 | New York, New York | $831 | $1,629 | $94,806 | 31.14% |
| 7 | Indianapolis, Indiana | $597 | $812 | $55,041 | 30.71% |
| 8 | San Diego, California | $614 | $1,340 | $78,333 | 29.92% |
| 9 | San Antonio, Texas | $579 | $1,168 | $70,630 | 29.69% |
| 10 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | $701 | $1,020 | $69,757 | 29.61% |
| 11 | Seattle, Washington | $638 | $1,353 | $81,293 | 29.39% |
| 12 | Phoenix, Arizona | $528 | $1,115 | $67,431 | 29.24% |
| 13 | San Francisco, California | $798 | $1,684 | $102,987 | 28.92% |
| 14 | Washington, District of Columbia | $674 | $1,461 | $88,819 | 28.85% |
| 15 | Nashville, Tennessee | $550 | $1,047 | $66,843 | 28.68% |
| 16 | Memphis, Tennessee | $549 | $980 | $65,206 | 28.13% |
| 17 | Chicago, Illinois | $694 | $1,167 | $80,198 | 27.85% |
| 18 | Charlotte, North Carolina | $534 | $963 | $64,522 | 27.85% |
| 19 | Austin, Texas | $587 | $1,187 | $76,478 | 27.84% |
| 20 | Columbus, Ohio | $663 | $956 | $70,977 | 27.38% |
| 21 | Houston, Texas | $628 | $1,247 | $83,528 | 26.94% |
| 22 | Jacksonville, Florida | $671 | $1,083 | $78,982 | 26.65% |
| 23 | Dallas, Texas | $688 | $1,237 | $88,001 | 26.24% |
*Cities are ranked from highest to lowest student loan & housing costs as a percentage of monthly income (i.e. highest to lowest student loan and housing costs burden).
Updated: July 1, 2017
