New Hampshire, Massachusetts top list among states with highest student loan payments, study says

BOSTON — If you’re among local college students who find themselves with a pile of debt from pursuing their degree, you’re not alone.

Four New England states rank at the top among states in the nation with the highest student loan payments, according to a new study.

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut top the list from the study released by WalletHub on Thursday.

In the Granite State, the median monthly student loan payment is $229, the study found. Coming in second is Massachusetts, where the median monthly student loan payment is $226.

Vermont ranks third, with monthly payments of $223, followed by Connecticut coming in fourth at $213.

Around 42.2 million Americans owe a collective $1.61 trillion in student loans, according to WalletHub. That comes out to an average of over $38,000 of debt for each borrower.

Residents of some states have much larger student loan payments than others, analysts found.

In order to determine the states with the most and least costly payments, WalletHub analyzed the latest consumer data and compared the median student loan payment amounts across the 50 states.

WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said monthly student loan payments vary quite a lot across the country. Median monthly payment on student loans range from $142 to $229, depending on the state.

The median student loan payment in Arkansas and Mississippi is just $142 per month, while the median in New Hampshire is $229, an $87 difference, Lupo said.

“In either case, that leads to extremely long payoff timelines,” Lupo said. “With the average student loan debt of $38,000 and a fixed interest rate of 6.53%, the rate for federal undergraduate loans, it would require a monthly payment of $284 to pay off everything within 20 years.”

To view the full report by WalletHub, visit this website.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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