BALTIMORE, MD—With the overall consumer debt exceeding $17.3 trillion in Q3 2023, the personal-finance website WalletHub this week released its rankings of the States with the Largest & Smallest Debt Increases.
Maryland came in at No. 6 on the list. Hawaii topped the list with California coming in at No. 2.
To determine the states with the largest and smallest household debt increases, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on the latest consumer-finance data available from TransUnion and the Federal Reserve.
| Largest Increase per Household | Smallest Increase per Household | |
| 1. Hawaii | 41. Michigan | |
| 2. California | 42. Kansas | |
| 3. Colorado | 43. Alabama | |
| 4. Utah | 44. Louisiana | |
| 5. Washington | 45. Ohio | |
| 6. Maryland | 46. Arkansas | |
| 7. Massachusetts | 47. Kentucky | |
| 8. Virginia | 48. Oklahoma | |
| 9. Idaho | 49. Mississippi | |
| 10. Oregon | 50. West Virginia |
People in Hawaii added the most debt per household during Q3 2023, according to the report. West Virginia had the smallest household debt increase, followed by Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
“The average household in Hawaii added $1,093 to their debt in Q3 2023, which puts the state at the top of the list for debt increases this quarter,” said Cassandra Happe, WalletHub analyst. “Hawaiians owed a total of $115.7 billion by the end of the quarter. By comparison, the overall debt for California was a staggering $2.9 trillion, but the state has a much larger population contributing to that figure, putting their debt increase at $988 per household. The debt increase for Coloradans came in at $978 per household, with a total debt of $482.3 billion for the state.”
Residents in many other states saw substantially lower household debt increases than Hawaiians, Californians, and Coloradans. “Oklahomans added $419 to their debt per household, while Missippians had an increase of $383 per household,” Happe noted. “Yet the Mountaineers in West Virginia added a mere $375 per household to their debt, the smallest increase overall.”
With overall consumer debt topping $17.3 trillion and banks decreasing their physical footprint, it’s clear that many Americans are taking advantage of the variety of loan opportunities available on the market today. “Technology has made it so we can easily borrow money anywhere, anytime. This is extremely convenient, but it can also come with a price,” according to Happe. “In just a few taps, consumers can access funds that would otherwise take days to get, but they also add to their overall debt in the process.”
Additional information can be found in the video below.
Photo via Pixabay
