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While student loan debt has been growing for millions of Americans in the last two decades—with totals across the country hitting $1.5 trillion earlier this year—the city of Fresno has the second least student debt in the nation, according to a recent study from the online lending exchange, LendingTree.
The study on the places with the most student debt utilized the data from over 8 million MyLendingTree users and aggregated the data to the 100 biggest metropolitan statistical areas by population.
With a median balance of $13,808 Fresno ranks 99 out of 100 cities.
According to the study, nearly 20 percent of people age 25 and over in Fresno have attained a bachelor’s degree, and 7 percent have graduate or professional degrees.
Cause for concern comes with the 23 percent of users in the area who have attended college without attaining a degree, leaving them still liable for the debt. 4.4 percent of debtors owe more than $100,000.
McAllen, Texas is the city with the least student debt with a median balance of $13,017, the main reason being that few people in the city attend college.
Bakersfield is ranked at 97 with a median balance of $14,656.
The city with the highest student debt is Washington D.C. with a median balance of $22,803.