Rolla named among cities with biggest student debt burden

ROLLA, Mo. — A recent study from WalletHub saw a town in the Missouri Ozarks among the U.S. cities most burdened by student debt.

The study looked at over 2,500 cities across the country and compared the median student-loan balance with the median income of people over 25 years old who have a bachelor's degree.

Rolla ranked 10th overall in the most overleveraged towns for student debt in the study. The median student debt in Rolla is only $20,921, but because the median earnings of bachelor's degree holders are only $32,107, the ratio of student debt to earnings came in at 65.16%.

The national average for debt-to-income ratio sits at around 32.9%.

Loma Linda, California, was first in student debt burdens with a 79.53% ratio. The city also has the highest median student debt for its residents at $42,261.

According to WalletHub, the top 10 most overleveraged towns in terms of student debt are:

• Loma Linda, California
• Carbondale, Illinois
• Richmond, Texas
• Avon Park, Florida
• King George, Virginia
• The Villages, Florida
• Jackson, Georgia
• Union City, Georgia
• Orangeburg, South Carolina
• Rolla, Missouri

The cities with the least amount of student debt in the study are Palo Alto, California, Orangevale, California and Sammamish, Washington.

WalletHub's study also measured other notable cities in Southwest Missouri. Along with Rolla in the 1st percentile in student-loan debt, Branson is in the 5th percentile, West Plains is in the 8th percentile, Lebanon is in the 9th percentile and Springfield is in the 10th percentile. Ozark and Nixa fared better, ranking in the 43rd and 55th percentiles, respectively.

The full study can be found here.