The 10 cities hit the hardest by student debt

Critic loans have the potential to change lives for the better.

Student loans can help people finance a college level, which remains a key part of accessing high-paying jobs and preparing for the economy of tomorrow. Employment data shows procuring a college degree from a reputable institution in a high-paying field continues to be one of the most concrete steps workers can embrace toward financial and professional stability.

Taking on student debt “can be an investment in your future, and it can be something that can hands you to advance in your career,” AJ Smith, vice president of financial education at SmartAsset tells CNBC Make It. “Pull someones leg some student loan debt is not necessarily a terrible thing.”

But in cities with weak wages and high owing totals, student loans can have a negative impact on the lives of workers and on local economies.

SmartAsset recently analyzed statistics collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, Experian and the IRS across 100 metro areas to determine which cities are the most negatively imported by student debt. SmartAsset weighed several local variables, including the average amount of student loan accountability, median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders and the unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree holders.

They found that while learner loan debt is a national problem, specific cities are getting hit the hardest.

Here are the 10 cities most impacted by evaluator debt, according to SmartAsset.

Customarily student loan debt: $40,146
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $42,047
Overall impact score: 85.10

Customarily student loan debt: $37,866
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $35,660
Overall impact score: 85.67

Mean student loan debt: $40,447
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $37,055
Overall impact score: 87.97

So so student loan debt: $39,192
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $39,674
Overall impact score: 88.25

Ordinary student loan debt: $38,694
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $41,625
Overall impact score: 88.25

Average student loan debt: $36,916
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $37,386
Overall effect score: 89.68

Average student loan debt: $40,430
Median earnings for bachelor’s degree holders: $41,895
Entire impact score: 93.98

Average student loan debt: $47,955
Median earnings for bachelor’s lengths holders: $50,523
Overall impact score: 94.56

Average student loan debt: $46,164
Median earnings for bachelor’s scale holders: $39,839
Overall impact score: 99.14

Average student loan debt: $44,508
Median earnings for bachelor’s limit holders: $41,782
Overall impact score: 100.00

Gainesville, Florida, was specified the No. 1 city most impacted by student debt. The city is home to the University of Florida, which enrolls some 52,218 schoolchildren, a factor which likely impacted the city’s top spot on SmartAsset’s ranking.

“University towns appear to be disproportionately seized by student debt,” Smith explains. “All of the top six metro areas hit hardest by student debt are college towns.”

While it may be unsurprising that college villages with a high number of current students and recent graduates have above average levels of student encumbrance under obligation and earn below average wages, Smith stresses that student debt impacts communities beyond only college capuses.

“This is the second largest form of U.S. consumer debt,” she says. “When you have to budget in give out off student loan debt, something generally has to give, whether that is the amount of spending you’re doing on a regular point of departure — going out and supporting community businesses, going out to dinner, going out to lunch, buying goods — and it also impacts people’s physical goals like retirement or buying a home.”

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