The population of Cleveland, Ohio, is almost 368,000 people, according to 2020–2021 U.S. census estimates, making it one of the largest cities in the state and the 54th largest in America. Credit Karma data from Aug. 17, 2022, shows the average overall debt of the 170,414 Credit Karma members who live in Cleveland is $30,053. In this case, overall debt is made up of auto loans, auto leases, student loans, mortgages, credit card balances and medical debt. (Click here for the full methodology.)
Read on to see a snapshot of debt in Cleveland.
Overall debt in Cleveland
The 170,414 Credit Karma members living in Cleveland held a combined total debt of about $8.65 billion. The average overall debt for individuals was $30,053, but the median overall debt was only $9,899. This likely means that a small segment of the population holds more overall debt than most.
The average next payment on that debt is $348. In contrast, the national average debt for Credit Karma members is $49,454, and the median is $11,223.
Cleveland’s debt dial
Image: clevelanddebtgauge-1Auto loans, student loans, mortgage and credit card debt in Cleveland
The table that follows contains averages and medians for different types of debt among Credit Karma members in Cleveland.
| Debt type | Number of Credit Karma members with debt type | Average debt | Median debt | Average next payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | 119,741 | $21,666 | $17,346 | $539 |
| Student loan | 65,776 | $30,846 | $15,343 | $30 |
| Mortgage | 44,757 | $143,404 | $115,041 | $1,075 |
| Credit card | 156,308 | $5,099 | $2,259 | $158 |
So how do residents of Cleveland compare to the national member averages? The table that follows compares the national average against the averages in Cleveland among Credit Karma members.
| Debt type | National average debt of Credit Karma members | Cleveland member average debt |
|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | $24,042 | $21,666 |
| Student loan | $32,004 | $30,846 |
| Mortgage | $235,194 | $143,404 |
| Credit card | $6,469 | $5,099 |
Overall, Credit Karma members in Cleveland had less debt than the national average across all categories.
How does Cleveland rank against other cities?
We compared averages for Credit Karma members living in the top 100 cities by population according to 2021 U.S. census population estimates.
Out of the top 100 cities, Cleveland has the 98th-highest overall average debt among Credit Karma members. That means that Cleveland has the third-lowest overall average debt among Credit Karma members.
Here’s how Cleveland members ranked against the other top 100 cities in America.
- Auto loan debt: 76th highest
- Credit card debt: 96th highest
- Student loan debt: 62nd highest
- Mortgage debt: 98th highest
Credit, inquiries and past-due accounts in Cleveland
Among Credit Karma members in Cleveland, the average VantageScore 3.0 credit score was 641 and the median was 643, both of which are considered fair. The national average VantageScore 3.0 for Credit Karma members was 673, while the median was 682.
Cleveland members had an average of five inquiries on their credit reports, while the national average was 4.2.
Residents of Cleveland average 0.77 accounts that were 30 days past due. The national average is 0.74 accounts.
Methodology
To determine averages across categories of debt — including auto lease, auto loan, credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical and total debt — we analyzed the accounts of about 170,000 Credit Karma members living in Cleveland who had been active on the site within the last 36 months. Averages were based on information from members’ TransUnion credit reports from the 90 days previous to the data pull, which was on Aug. 17, 2022. For the purposes of this analysis, auto lease, auto loan, credit card, mortgage, medical and student loan debt is defined as any unpaid balances existing on members’ open accounts in aggregate at the time the data was pulled. All numbers in this report were rounded to the nearest whole.
Note that all data for this article were pulled on Aug. 17, 2022.