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Student loan debt

10 best states for student loan debt

By Nick Otto
About Nick
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Published September 6, 2016 11:31 AM
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Updated September 6, 2016 12:48 PM
1 Min Read

More and more employers are looking at college debt repayment as a driver to find new and fresh talent. Earlier this week, we shared with you the top states whose residents have some of the worst college debt; now we share the best.

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10 best states for student loan debt

In order to identify the best and worst states for student-loan debtors, WalletHub, a personal finance site, compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia on nine key metrics, including “average student debt,” “unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 34” and “percentage of students with past-due loan balances” to average a state population's overall score.

In addition, student loan indebtedness was calculated using five of those metrics, including “student debt as a percentage of income” as well as the “percentage of student loans in past-due or default status.”

WalletHub has IDd the following state’s citizens best at handling student debt.
1 New Mexico.jpg
Flag of the US state of New Mexico on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 10: New Mexico

Overall score: 63.11
Student loan indebtedness rank: 8
2 Hawaii.jpg
Flag of the US state of Hawaii on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 9: Hawaii

Overall score: 63.94
Student loan indebtedness rank: 10
3 Colorado.jpg
Flag of the US state of Colorado on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 8: Colorado

Overall score: 64.40
Student loan indebtedness rank: 15
4 Alaska.jpg
Flag of the US state of Alaska on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 7: Alaska

Overall score: 65.78
Student loan indebtedness rank: 6
5 Washington.jpg
Flag of the US state of Washington on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 6: Washington

Overall score: 67.47
Student loan indebtedness rank: 5
6 Virginia.jpg
Flag of the US state of Virginia on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 5: Virginia

Overall score: 68.62
Student loan indebtedness rank: 7
7 Nevada.jpg
Flag of the US state of Nevada on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 4: Nevada

Overall score: 69.54
Student loan indebtedness rank: 4
8 North Dakota.jpg
Flag of the US state of North Dakota on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 3: North Dakota

Overall score: 70.14
Student loan indebtedness rank: 3
9 Wyoming.jpg
Flag of the US state of Wyoming on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 2: Wyoming

Overall score: 79.33
Student loan indebtedness rank: 2
10 Utah.jpg
Flag of the US state of Utah on a brushed metal backgound
Duncan Walker/Getty Images

Number 1: Utah

Overall score: 84.18
Student loan indebtedness rank: 1
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Top 10 worst states with student debt

Where does your state stand? In case you missed it, here are the 10 worst states with student debt.

For a complete rundown of the report, view WalletHub’s study.

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Nick Otto
Former senior editor
Nick Otto is a former senior editor of Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser.
Student loan debt Financial stress Financial wellness Financial planning College recruiting
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