With a population of almost 570,000 people, Milwaukee is the biggest city in Wisconsin and the 31st-largest city in the U.S., according to 2020–2021 U.S. census estimates. Credit Karma data from Aug. 17, 2022, shows the average debt of the 164,247 Credit Karma members who live in Milwaukee is $32,799. 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 Milwaukee.
Overall debt in Milwaukee
The 164,247 Credit Karma members living in Milwaukee held a combined total debt of about $9.04 billion. The average overall debt for individuals was $32,799, but the median overall debt was only $9,553. This suggests that a small segment of Milwaukee residents carry more overall debt than most of the population. The average next payment on that debt is $339.
In contrast, the national average debt for Credit Karma members is $49,454, and the median is $11,223.
Milwaukee’s debt dial
Image: milwaukeedebtgaugeAuto loans, student loans, mortgage and credit card debt in Milwaukee
The table that follows contains averages and medians for different types of debt among Credit Karma members in Milwaukee.
| Debt type | Number of Credit Karma members with debt type | Average debt | Median debt | Average next payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | 107,067 | $19,548 | $16,264 | $492 |
| Student loan | 75,125 | $32,256 | $17,683 | $35 |
| Mortgage | 81,525 | $168,279 | $137,820 | $1,263 |
| Credit card | 146,735 | $4,853 | $2,104 | $148 |
So how do residents of Milwaukee compare to the national member averages? The table that follows compares the national average against the averages in Milwaukee among Credit Karma members.
| Debt type | National average debt of Credit Karma members | Milwaukee member average debt |
|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | $24,042 | $19,548 |
| Student loan | $32,004 | $32,256 |
| Mortgage | $235,194 | $168,279 |
| Credit card | $6,469 | $4,853 |
Overall, Credit Karma members in Milwaukee had less debt than the national average across all categories, except for student loan debt.
How does Milwaukee 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, Milwaukee has the 96th-highest overall average debt among Credit Karma members.
Here’s how Milwaukee members ranked against the other top 100 cities in America.
- Auto loan debt: 95th highest
- Credit card debt: 98th highest
- Student loan debt: 47th highest
- Mortgage debt: 91st highest
Credit, inquiries and past-due accounts in Milwaukee
Among Credit Karma members in Milwaukee, the average VantageScore 3.0 credit score was 642 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.
Milwaukee members had an average of 5.4 inquiries on their credit reports, while the national average was 4.2.
Residents of Milwaukee average 0.64 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, medial and total debt — we analyzed the accounts of about 164,000 Credit Karma members living in Milwaukee 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.