Californians Loses Dunce Cap for Most Indebted Households

Written by Chriss W. Street

California households according to a study by WalletHub, improved over the last twelve months from the worst to the second worst at accumulating debt with a gain of just $1,075.  But the Golden State households are still number one with $3 trillion in total household debt, or about one sixth of all American household debt.

Californians currently have the largest student debt, auto loandebt, credit card debt, and the highest average mortgage balances at $443,000.  Furthermore, the US census reveals that a million of California’s 9 million renters are behind on their rent.

States Adding Most Household Debt Over Last 12 Months

State Rank​   Avg. Debt   Avg. Increase        Total Increase        State Household Total        

1  Hawaii​    $274,978      $1,169             $     565,555,155      $    121,939,911,132​

2  California​    $252,927      $1,075​      $14,314,624,862      $ 3,086,390,544,400​

3  Colorado​    $240,452      $1,022​      $   2,328,124,590     $    501,969,264,918​

4  Utah              $236,197      $1,004​      $   1,066,964,607     $    230,049,303,086​

5  Washington   $234,000      $   995​      $   2,963,075,440     $    638,871,651,136​

WalletHub Consumer Debt Analyst Chip Lupo commented:

“A big increase in a state’s average household debt can be a sign that residents are struggling financially. For example, inflation may be pushing people to borrow more just to afford necessities.”

The above analysis does not include the share of debt owed by every State of California household, because the Golden Statehas failed to release its annual financial report on time for the last five years.  The most recent report was filed recently for June 30, 2022.

According to the most recent Truth in Accounting analysis for 2024 based on two and a half year ago financials, every California man, woman, and child resident is responsible foranother $17,400 of state debt.  With an average household size of 2.78 people, each California household is on the hook for another $48,372.

Adding California average household debt and the average household state debt equals $301,299. As a result, California households would again rank number 1 over the last twelve months for average debt; average increase in debt, total state increase in debt, and total state household debt.