Average Birmingham College Student Owes $46K

ROCHESTER, MI — Most local high school students go on to college. Increasing numbers of them graduate with big loans to repay. A new study found that five Oakland County communities are among the U.S. cities whose residents owe the most.

The average Birmingham student's college student’s debt? A tidy $$46,012.30. That's the most in the state of Michigan, and 22nd nationally. LendEDU’s report, entitled “U.S. Cities with the Highest & Lowest Student Debt Balances” provides a detailed look at which U.S. cities owe the most and least in student loan debt.

Student loan debt is the second highest form of debt in the U.S., second only to mortgages. In 2017, there are 43.3 million student loan borrowers who collectively owe $1.41 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. Six out of 10 students will graduate from college (something our society says they need to do) with debt. On average, these student borrowers will owe $28,400.

Other Oakland County students that are in debt include Royal Oak, where students owe $41,824.66 on average. In Novi, the number is $$38,402.43 and in Troy, students owe $37,564.50 on average. Rochester students owe $36,109.11.

"For most, student loan payments have become another monthly expenditure that eats away at earnings, similar to a rent, electric, or water bill," the researchers said. "How big has the student loan debt crisis become? A few statistics can paint a pretty bleak picture."

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As for the study's methodology, LendEDU used data licensed from Experian to pinpoint the 500 U.S. communities where the average student debt balances are highest and where they're lowest. To be considered for the study, a town or city had to have a population above 15,000.

Two towns in Texas lead the rankings both for highest and lowest student loan debt. Kaufman, Texas has an average $10,924.70, ranking No. 1 among communities with the lowest burden, while Helotes, Texas actually ranks No. 1 on the heavy burden list, with an whopping $59,803.10 debt average.

Photo by Michael Fleshman via Flickr Commons. Lanning Taliaferro (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.