Travel site says state has lowest overall debt per person in U.S.

West Virginians have the lowest overall debt — including mortgage — per person in the United States, according to a report by Upgradedpoints.com, a travel site for cost-conscious travelers.
Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the website said the average debt in West Virginia is $29,430. Included in that total is $15,430 for things like student debt, the lowest in the country, as well as a $2,240 credit card debt, the second lowest.
“West Virginia is a low-income state and people won’t be buying as much in general,” said John Deskins, director of West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business & Economic Research.
“Maybe some people in West Virginia are old school and pay with cash.”
Mississippi was second on the list with an average of $32,100 debt per person, followed by Arkansas with $32,790; Kentucky, $34,010; Oklahoma, $34,370; Alabama, $36,780; Michigan, $37,590; Indiana, $37,750; Ohio, $37,990; and Kansas, $38,120.
Upgradedpoints.com noted West Virginia has affordable home prices. The average size of a mortgage in the state is less than half the national average of $33,680.
“Small banks that once served rural towns have rapidly vanished in recent decades,” Upgraded said in a release. “As a result, residents of the remote corners of West Virginia and Mississippi may struggle to obtain loans of any kind, even
to finance modest purchases.”
The median home price in West Virginia is $110,000, according to Business Insider, a business news website. Median rent in the state is $950, compared with the median national average of $1,600.
Mississippi had the second-lowest mortgage average at $115,710; Arkansas was third at $118,260 and was followed by Oklahoma, $119,740; Kentucky, $119,840; Alabama, $121,140; Louisiana, $121,580; Ohio, $121,810; Michigan, $122,630; and Indiana, $122,880.
Mississippi had the lowest credit card debt at $2,110 per person. Just behind West Virginia — where credit card debt declined 11.5% from 2003 to 2018 — in third place was Kentucky at $2,330 followed by Arkansas, $2,410; Alabama, $2,420; Iowa, $2,530; Louisiana, $2,530; Indiana, $2,570; Tennessee, $2,570; and Oklahoma, $2,590.
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