How much student loan debt is there in the U.S.?

Evidence snapshot:

• Student loan debt in the U.S. reached $1.796 trillion in 2025, over twice the size of the U.S. defense budget.
• As of September 2024, federal student loans comprised 90.2% of total U.S. student debt.
• 43.1 million Americans had student loan debt in September 2024.
• In September 2024, the average student loan debt was $37,415.
• Just 0.4% of student loan borrowers defaulted at the end of 2024, the lowest rate in two decades after peaking above 12% in the early 2010s.

How many people in America are drowning in student debt? How big is the gap between what borrowers owe and what they can repay? In this report, you’ll uncover the latest, sharpest numbers: from a $1.8 trillion total to the quiet collapse of default rates, and see exactly who owes the most, and why. Let’s dig into the real scope of the student loan burden.

How much is student loan debt in the U.S.?

Let’s analyze the total student loan debt graph in the U.S.:

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• Student loan debt grew by 2.5% year-over-year in 2025, rising from $1.75 trillion in 2024 to $1.80 trillion.
• Student loan debt has more than doubled since 2009, increasing from $707 billion to nearly $1.80 trillion by 2025.

A table with the total amount of student loan debt in America by year:

• Student loan debt grew by 2.5% year-over-year in 2025, rising from $1.75 trillion in 2024 to $1.80 trillion.
• Student loan debt has more than doubled since 2009, increasing from $707 billion to nearly $1.80 trillion by 2025.
• The average annual growth rate of student loan debt from 2006 to 2025 was approximately 7.1% per year.

How big is student loan debt?

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• Student loan debt grew by 2.5% year-over-year in 2025, rising from $1.75 trillion in 2024 to $1.80 trillion.
• Student loan debt has more than doubled since 2009, increasing from $707 billion to nearly $1.80 trillion by 2025.
• The average annual growth rate of student loan debt from 2006 to 2025 was approximately 7.1% per year.
• Student loan debt in 2025 is over twice the size of the U.S. defense budget.
• In 2025, student loan debt reached $1.796 trillion, nearly equaling the $1.9 trillion federal budget deficit.
• Americans owe nearly 80% more in student loans than in credit card debt in 2025.

How much is student loan debt in the U.S.?

• U.S. student loan debt hit $1.796 trillion in 2025, rivaling the federal deficit, nearly doubling credit card debt, and towering over the entire defense budget.

How much federal student debt is there in the U.S.?

• Federal student loan debt surpassed $1.6 trillion by late 2024

What percent of student loans are federal?

• As of September 2024, federal loans accounted for about 90.2% of all student debt in the United States, leaving less than 1 in 10 dollars owed to private lenders.

How much private student loan debt is there in the U.S.?

• Private student loan debt totaled an estimated $174 billion in 2024, accounting for 9.8% of the national student debt.

Average student loan debt in the U.S.

• In September 2024, the average borrower owed $37,415 in student loans, an amount larger than a new car or a year’s rent in many U.S. cities.

And what is the median student loan debt in the U.S.?

Let’s analyze the distribution of student loans by balance bracket:

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• In late 2024, the median student loan debt in the U.S. fell between $10,000 and $25,000.

Let’s analyze how this distribution changed during the 2022-2024 period:

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• The largest group of student loan borrowers in Q4 2024 held balances between $10,000 and $25,000, totaling over 11.4 million people.
• The second largest group had balances between $25,000 and $50,000, with about 8.6 million borrowers.


• The smallest group held more than $200,000 in debt, totaling just over 1 million borrowers, however, its total debt can be equal to the loan of the largest group of borrowers, with the college loan between $10,000 and $25,000.

Despite small shifts, the distribution of student loan balances remained stable from 2022 to 2024, indicating a consistent debt structure where most borrowers owe moderate amounts while high-balance cases remain rare.

Here is the table showing the dynamics of the distribution of student loan debts by balance gap over the last three years:

How many total student loan borrowers owe more than $10,000?

• In Q4 2024, 36.7 million borrowers owed more than $10,000 in student loans.

How many total student loan borrowers owe more than $50,000?

• In Q4 2024, 9.7 million borrowers had balances over $50,000.

How many total student loan borrowers owe more than $100,000?

• In Q4 2024, 3.7 million borrowers carried student loan debt exceeding $100,000.

How many total student loan borrowers owe more than $150,000?

• In Q4 2024, 1.8 million borrowers had balances above $150,000.

How many total student loan borrowers owe more than $200,000?

• In Q4 2024, 1.0 million borrowers owed over $200,000.

Average student loan debt by age

• Borrowers aged 40–49 held the highest average student loan debt in Q4 2024, at $47,095.
• Borrowers under 30 had the lowest average balance at $23,830, reflecting shorter borrowing histories or recent repayment starts.

Average student loan debt by age and year

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• Borrowers under 30 saw the smallest growth, with their average debt rising only 45% from $16,480 to $23,830.
• From 2007 to 2024, borrowers aged 60+ saw the largest growth in average student loan debt, rising 174% from $14,939 to $40,969.
• The second highest growth was among borrowers aged 50–59, with a 157% increase from $18,163 to $46,631.

Average student loan debt by year

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• Over the last decade, average student loan debt grew by 40.1%, rising from $26,700 in 2014 to $37,416 in 2024.
• The average annual growth rate of student loan debt during this period was approximately 3.4% per year.

Table with average student loan debt by year

What is the average student loan debt in the U.S.?

• The average student loan debt in the U.S. was $37,415 at the end of 2024.

Average student loan debt by state

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https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/23165403

• Every single state and territory saw an increase in average student loan debt from 2019 to 2024; none saw a real decline, reinforcing the nationwide nature of the debt burden.
• Between 2019 and 2024, average student loan debt grew the most in Puerto Rico, rising by 30.6% from $26,910 to $35,150.
• The state with the largest decrease was Montana, where average debt fell by 1.2%, from $30,770 to $30,810.
• Southern states dominate high-debt rankings: States like Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina consistently have average student loan balances above $38,000, reflecting regional affordability challenges in higher education.
• Midwestern stability: Several Midwest states, such as Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, recorded modest increases or flat debt levels, showing lower tuition costs or more cautious borrowing behavior.

Table with average student loan debt by state in Q4 2024

How many Americans have student loan debt?

• In September 2024, 43.1 million Americans held student loan debt, roughly one in every eight people in the United States.

How many people have student loan debt by year

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• The number of student loan borrowers grew by over 50% from 2007 to 2024, rising from 28.3 million to 43.1 million.
• Most of the growth happened before 2017: borrower totals have barely changed over the past 7 years.
• Despite constant headlines, the number of borrowers has stayed flat at around 42–43 million since 2017.
• The sharpest annual increase occurred between 2008 and 2009, during the Great Recession, when the borrower count jumped by nearly 2 million.
• In 2024, the U.S. had the highest-ever number of student loan borrowers, reaching 43.1 million.

How many people have federal student loans?

• At the end of 2024, approximately 38.9 million Americans held federal student loans, representing 90.2% of all student loan borrowers.

How many people have private student loans?

• At the end of 2024, around 4.2 million Americans carried private student loans, accounting for 9.8% of the national total.

Addressing the student loan problem

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• By the end of 2024, U.S. student loan debt reached $1.75 trillion, nearly tripling since 2007, fueling long-standing concerns about a student loan debt crisis.
• Between 2007 and 2022, student loan debt grew every single year, but 2024 marked a rare 1.2% decline, hinting at temporary relief in a long-building debt bubble.
• While the number of borrowers rose steadily from 28.3 million in 2007 to 43.1 million in 2024, growth in total debt far outpaced borrower growth, intensifying the student loan debt bubble.
• The slowdown in debt growth since 2020, with yearly increases falling below 3%, suggests the student loan debt crisis is shifting from rapid expansion to a long-term burden.

Percentage of student loans in default

• In 2024, just 0.4% of student loan borrowers were in default: the lowest share in at least two decades.

Percentage of student loans in default by year

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• The rate of student loan default has plummeted from over 12% in 2013 to just 0.4% in 2024, marking a historic low after a decade of crisis-level defaults.
• In 2024, only 189,000 borrowers were in default: a 96% drop from the 4.8 million peak in 2016, driven largely by pandemic-era policy changes and reporting pauses.
• Despite 43.1 million Americans holding student loans in 2024, defaults are nearly extinct, raising questions about whether current figures reflect real repayment behavior or paused enforcement.

Conclusions:

• Student debt has become a defining financial weight for tens of millions, growing faster than incomes or inflation for over a decade.
  This growth has outpaced borrowers’ ability to repay, leaving many with balances they carry well into middle age. It’s reshaping life milestones like buying homes or starting families.
  
• The student loan crisis has evolved from a growth story into a long-term repayment challenge that touches nearly every demographic in the U.S.
  Even borrowers in their 50s and 60s are still repaying, showing that student debt is no longer just a young person’s issue.
  
• Despite policy pauses and reforms, America’s $1.8 trillion student loan tab remains one of the country’s largest unresolved economic tensions.
  It affects credit scores, consumer spending, mental health, and long-term financial security for millions.

Methodology:

The percentage of federal student debt was calculated by dividing the federal debt ($1.6 trillion) by the total student debt ($1.774 trillion), then multiplying by 100.

The total number of student loan borrowers was estimated by dividing the number of federal borrowers (45.0 million) by the federal debt share (0.902).

Average student loan debt was calculated by dividing the total student loan debt in Q4 2024 ($1.774 trillion) by the number of total borrowers (43,134,800), based on data from the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel.

Sources:

• Daniel Mangrum and Crystal Wang, “Student Loan Balance and Repayment Trends Since the Pandemic Disruption,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics, March 26, 2025, https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/03/student-loan-balance-and-repayment-trends-since-the-pandemic-disruption/.
• U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. (2024). Federal Student Aid fiscal year 2024 annual report.
  https://studentaid.gov/data-center/business-info/strategic-planning-and-reporting
• Reuters. CBO sees US 2025 deficit flat at $1.9 trillion before any Trump tax changes
  https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/cbo-sees-us-2025-deficit-flat-19-trln-before-any-trump-tax-changes-2025-01-17
• “Federal Reserve Board – Consumer Credit – G.19.” Back to Home, 7 May 2025, https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/HIST/cc_hist_memo_levels.html 
• Kelton, Katie. “Bankrate’s 2025 Credit Card Debt Report | Bankrate.” Bankrate, 9 Apr. 2025, https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/credit-card-debt-report/