Best cities for people with student loan debt
If you are among the 40-plus million Americans working to pay off student loan debt, where you live could be impacting the rate at which you are able to reduce those obligations.
Outstanding student loan debt hit $1.46 trillion at the end of last year, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, second only to mortgage debt as a share of Americans’ total debt burdens.
According to data from Deutsche Bank Research, most people have balances between $10,000 and $25,000.
GOBankingRates analyzed hundreds of cities across the U.S. to find out where people can pay off their loans quicker, taking into account factors, including median rent and other average monthly costs, like groceries, transportation and utilities. They also used the national student debt average to create the rankings.
Here’s a look at what they found:
Plano, Texas
Residents of Plano, Texas were able to pay off their student loans the quickest. It took people here about 48.86 months on average to eliminate their debts completely – which is a little more than four years.
The average rent in the city is $1,993, while the median income is more than $88,500.
Alexandria, Virginia
Following Plano was Alexandria, Virginia, where the average person spent about 54.7 months repaying their student loan debt – or about 4.56 years.
Residents in Alexandria make about $93,370 per year. Monthly grocery costs are about $104, while residents typically spend about $228 on transportation costs.
Nashville
In Nashville, it takes student loan borrowers about 4.8 years – or more than 57 months – to repay student loans.
The average worker in Nashville earns a salary of about $75,998. When average expenditures on food, rent, transportation and utilities are factored in, people have about $4,295.29 left over to spend.
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Another city in Virginia landed a top spot on the list – Virginia Beach.
In this city, it takes an average of 5.12 years – 61.39 months – for residents to pay off student loan debt.
Median income is $70,500, or $5,875 per month. When average expenditures on food, rent, transportation and utilities are accounted for, residents tend to have about $4,036.53 left over each month.
Katy, Texas
A second Texas town also ranked among the top five best places to pay off your student loans. Katy residents typically spend about 61.52 months – or 5.13 years – paying those obligations.
The median income among local workers is $73,865, while the average rent is $1,750.
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Rounding out the top 10 were:
San Jose, California (about 5.14 years to repay)
Silver Spring, Maryland (about 5.66 years to repay)
Spring, Texas (about 5.73 years to repay)
Seattle (about 6 years to repay)
Littleton, Colorado (about 6.02 years to repay)