Study: Hawai‘i Residents Have the Worst Debt

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According to new analysis conducted by Credible, Hawai‘i residents on average have the highest debt-to-income ratio in the nation.

The study finds that residents of the Aloha State pay the second highest amount on monthly credit card bills, and the fourth highest amount on housing costs. However, average incomes aren’t high enough to offset these costs.

The study revealed the following debt and income data for Hawai‘i Residents:

• Average monthly credit card payment: $238;
• Average monthly student loan payment: $385;
• Average monthly housing payment: $1,091;
• Average annual income: $56,889;
• Monthly debt-to-income ratio: 36 percent.

The analysis found that on average, Americans included in the research pay roughly $207 on credit card debt, $370 on student loans, and $906 on housing costs per month, while taking home an average salary of $60,671.

Credible advises consumers to find a debt payoff plant that fits their budget and lifestyle while minimizing interest payments, such as credit cards that offer 0 percent APR introductory periods for balance transfers.

The analysis used proprietary data from over 540,000 U.S. residents in all 50 states and Washington D.C. to calculate average monthly credit card, student loan, and housing payments as a percentage of average monthly income.

That percentage was then assigned a normalized score between zero and 100 for each state, with zero representing debt payments as the highest percentage of monthly income, and 100 representing debt payments as the lowest percentage of monthly income.