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5 Cities Where Gen Zers Have the Most Student Loan Debt

August 1, 2024

4 min Read

Written by Preston Hartwick

Edited by Jenna Klaverweiden

A piggy bank with a graduation cap on that says in debt -- with a background of cash.

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Going to college in the U.S. can be expensive, and when you factor in the additional costs of pursuing higher degrees, it’s no wonder that so many Americans need to take out student loans to pay for their education.

The outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. stands at a staggering $1.75 trillion, per the Education Data Initiative. Of that, $1.62 trillion is federal student loan debt, which is spread out among 42.8 million borrowers holding an average balance of $37,853.

But how do those numbers break down across different generations, from Gen Z to baby boomers? A LendingTree study examined where each generation’s debt stacks up. Here’s an overview of where each generation stands on student loan debt and some of the cities where Gen Zers owe the most in student loans.

Also see five myths about debt that nobody should believe in 2024.

How Does Gen Z Student Loan Debt Compare?

Researchers analyzed over 428,000 credit reports from consumers in the 100 largest U.S. metro areas to learn more about how debt is spread out across each generation. The data showed that Gen Zers have the lowest median student loan balance ($12,172) of any generation. However, they’re ranked second highest when it comes to the percentage of people in each generation who owe student loan debt.

Millennials carry the highest percentage of student loan debt, with 38.4% of the generation owing a median balance of $24,112. On the other end of the scale, only 11.2% of baby boomers have student loan debt, but they have the second-highest median balance of $25,763. Gen Xers have the highest median balance overall at $31,066.

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Generation	Percentage With Student Loan Debt	Median Balance Owed
Millennials	38.4%	$24,112
Gen Z	37.2%	$12,172
Gen X	25.4%	$31,066
Baby boomers	11.2%	$25,763

High-Debt Cities for Gen Z

The cities where Gen Zers have the highest median student loan debt are in the Northeast, coinciding with the location of many prestigious — and expensive — universities.

Boston

The Boston metropolitan area is home to high-tuition institutions like Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so it might come as no surprise that it’s the city where Gen Zers owe the highest median student loan debt. Almost half of all Gen Zers in Boston have outstanding balances on their student loans.

Median student loan balance: $20,986
Difference from Gen Z median student loan balance: +$8,814
Percentage of Gen Zers with student loan debt: 47.7%

New Haven, Connecticut

While Gen Zers in New Haven owe slightly less than Gen Zers in Boston, a whopping 56% carry student loan debt, with a median loan balance that’s around $8,000 more than the national median.

Median student loan balance: $20,173
Difference from Gen Z median student loan balance: +$8,001
Percentage of Gen Zers with student loan debt: 56.0%

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Gen Zers in Bridgeport have a median student loan balance of $19,250, which is over $7,000 higher than the median student loan balance in other large cities.