It’s hard to afford college without student loans. According to the Institute for College Access & Success, 69 percent of graduates from public and nonprofit colleges had student loan debt.
Credit Karma data from our member base of over 40 million consumers shows the 15 cities where the highest percentage of members had student loans.
These cities are located across the US and are all highly educated. Each has a higher percentage of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher than the national average. According to the US Census Bureau, 47.2 percent of people in Tallahassee (which tops the list) have a four-year degree or higher; the national average is just 28.8 percent.
With the cost of attending college continuing to rise across the country, access to student loans to pay off the costs required to get a degree will continue to be a pre-requisite for many to study.
Check out our full list of cities with the highest percentage of Credit Karma members with student loans:
15 US Cities With The Highest Amount of Student Loans
- Tallahassee, FL, 45%
- Little Rock, AR, 45%
- Columbia, SC, 44%
- Montgomery, AL, 43%
- Minneapolis, MN, 43%
- New Orleans, LA, 42%
- Greensboro, NC, 42%
- Philadelphia, PA, 42%
- Washington, DC, 42%
- Columbia, MO, 41%
- Boston, MA, 41%
- Detroit, MI, 41%
- Fort Collins, CO, 41%
- Fort Wayne, IN, 41%
- Akron, OH, 40%
* Based on all Credit Karma members who pulled their credit profile data from July 2014 through June 2015 and live in a city with a population greater than 100,000.