Study: Stevens Point ranks in 18th percentile for student debt

By Patrick Lynn

The city of Stevens Point ranks in the 18th percentile when it comes to carrying student debt.

According to a study from the Federal Student Loan Portfolio, student loans make up the second-highest form of household debt after mortgages, totaling a record $1.63 trillion.

Student-loan debts are more unsustainable in some places than others, the study said. To determine where borrowers are burdened the most, the financial planning website WalletHub compared the median student-loan balance against the median earnings of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree in more than 2,500 U.S. cities.

In the study, the median student-loan balance, based on TransUnion data from March 2023, by the median earnings of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree in 2,519 U.S. cities.

The highest reported student debt average of $32,774 is in Ridgeland, Miss., where the median earnings of bachelor’s degree holders is $48,796.

Stevens Point ranks in the 18th percentile, with an average student debt of $18,869, and with median earnings by degree holders of $41,173.

Nationwide, people ages 24-34 have the highest amount of outstanding debt of all age groups, with the Federal Student Loan Portfolio said stands at $85.57 billion.