Study: Massachusetts Residents Owe $42,410, On Average

BOSTON, MA — The average Massachusetts resident owes $42,140, enough to put the state fourth highest on the list of per capita debt levels in a study released by Lending Tree Wednesday. The study also found that 92 percent of Massachusetts residents were carrying credit card balances, the average resident owing $3,913.

Only Colorado ($50,010), California ($49,410) and Maryland ($43,330) had higher per capita debt levels than Massachusetts. Mississippi was at the bottom of the list, with a per capita debt burden of $18,640.

High housing costs aren't helping Massachusetts residents get out of the red. The average mortgage debt balance in Massachusetts is $127,383. Other average debt totals in the state, using the study's methodology of dividing the outstanding debt by the number of adults in the state to arrive at the per capita average:

• 38 percent of Massachusetts residents have car loans, with an average outstanding balance of $10,291.
• 22 percent of Massachusetts are paying off student loans, and on average they owe $28,331.
• Six percent of Massachusetts residents have personal loans, with an average outstanding balance of $10,533.

The state-by-state breakdown of data from Lending Tree study is available online.