Here are the cities paying off the most household debt in 2025
FILE-A for sale sign advertises a reduced price in front of homes in Stockton, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Skyrocketing household debt is putting a squeeze on the wallets of many Americans.
In the first quarter of 2025, there was a $73 billion inflation-adjusted decline in household debts, which WalletHub explains in a new study implies that the economy may be trending in the right direction.
But the personal finance website noted in a new study that household debt varies by city nationwide. The team looked at changes in household debt from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 and created the rankings using consumer financial data from TransUnion, the Federal Reserve, and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Top cities with least and most household debt in 2025
Cities with the most household debt
- Santa Clarita, California-$472,220
- Fremont, California-$376,425
- Chesapeake, Virginia-$329,870
- San Jose, California-$318,090
- Pearl City, Hawaii-$307,108
- Gilbert, Arizona-$293,048
- Chula Vista, California-$285,991
- Irvine, California-$279,389
- Huntington Beach, California-$278,268
- San Francisco, California-$277,210
Cities with the least household debt
- Detroit-$42,031
- Cleveland-$53,833
- Newark, New Jersey-$57,767
- Toledo, Ohio-$60,257
- Jackson, Mississippi-$65,777
- Milwaukee-$67,365
- New Haven, Connecticut-$67,549
- Memphis-$68,568
- Akron, Ohio-$68,890
- Buffalo-$70,793
According to WalletHub, the household debt in the U.S. is $18.2 trillion, with mortgages representing most of this debt. To see the complete list of cities in WalletHub’s study, click here.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by WalletHub, which assessed changes in household debt from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025 and evaluated data on consumers’ finances from TransUnion and the Federal Reserve, with statistics adjusted by inflation to March 3, 2025. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.