Phoenix is home to more than 1.6 million people, according to 2020–2021 U.S. census estimates, and ranks as the fifth-largest city in the United States. Credit Karma data from Aug. 17, 2022, shows that the 360,648 Credit Karma members who live in Phoenix have an average overall debt of $52,387. 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 Phoenix.
Overall debt in Phoenix
The 360,648 Credit Karma members living in Phoenix held a combined total debt of about $32.9 billion. The average overall debt for individuals was $52,387, but the median overall debt was only $10,534 — suggesting that a small segment of the population carries more debt than the majority of Phoenix residents. The average next payment on that debt is $452.
In contrast, the national average debt for Credit Karma members is $49,454, and the median is $11,223.
Phoenix’s debt dial
Image: phoenixdebtgaugeAuto loans, student loans, mortgage and credit card debt in Phoenix
The table that follows contains averages and medians for different types of debt among Credit Karma members in Phoenix.
| Debt type | Number of Credit Karma members with debt type | Average debt | Median debt | Average next payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | 252,661 | $24,816 | $19,709 | $574 |
| Student loan | 129,854 | $28,928 | $13,500 | $33 |
| Mortgage | 123,230 | $265,481 | $233,905 | $1,594 |
| Credit card | 342,161 | $5,820 | $2,716 | $166 |
So how do residents of Phoenix compare to the national member averages? The table that follows compares the national average against the averages in Phoenix among Credit Karma members.
| Debt type | National average debt of Credit Karma members | Phoenix member average debt |
|---|---|---|
| Auto loan | $24,042 | $24,816 |
| Student loan | $32,004 | $28,928 |
| Mortgage | $235,194 | $265,481 |
| Credit card | $6,469 | $5,820 |
How does Phoenix 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, Phoenix has the 42nd-highest overall average debt among Credit Karma members. Fellow Arizona city Mesa comes in just above Phoenix with the 41st-highest overall debt, while Minneapolis comes in just below with the 43rd-highest overall debt.
Here’s how Phoenix members ranked against the other top 100 cities in America.
- Auto loan debt: 29th highest
- Credit card debt: 74th highest
- Student loan debt: 79th highest
- Mortgage debt: 40th highest
Credit, inquiries and past-due accounts in Phoenix
Among Credit Karma members in Phoenix, the average VantageScore 3.0 credit score was 668 and the median was 674, both of which are considered good. The national average VantageScore 3.0 for Credit Karma members was 673, while the median was 682.
Phoenix members had an average of 4.3 inquiries on their credit reports, while the national average was 4.2. Residents of Phoenix 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, medical and total debt — we analyzed the accounts of about 360,000 Credit Karma members living in Phoenix 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.