Mapping American Debt

The Urban Institute's Debt in America visualizes debt levels in every county in the USA. The map allows you to view the median debt levels in a county and compare them to debt levels for the state and the country as a whole. The map also allows you to view the average household income in every state.

Using the map sidebar you can select from a number of debt metrics, including the share and value of medical debt in each county. If you then click on a county on the map you can view the debt totals for the county in the map sidebar. The debt totals for the county, the state and for the whole country are also shown beneath the map.


$1.3 trillion in student debt is owed by 42 million Americans. Mapping Student Debt shows the average student loan balance in each household at zip-code level in the United States.

If you enter the name of a town or a zip-code into the map you can view choropleth leyers showing the average household student loan balance, the delinquency rate and the median household income in that area.

Below the map is some interesting analysis of the geography of student debt across the United States. For example, the map reveals that delinquency is more prevalent in low-income zip-codes than in better off neighorhoods. Affluent zip codes, on the other hand, have higher than average student loan balances per household.