Money Stress
Dallas millennials saddled with some of the highest debt in the U.S., says report
For millennials in Dallas, Big D stands for "debt." A new study from online lending marketplace LendingTree shows millennials in the DFW metro area carry some of the highest amount of personal debt among millennials in the country’s 50 largest metros.
Dallas-Fort Worth ranks No. 6 in the new study — with a median debt of $25,939 — putting it just behind San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Austin, Houston, and Jacksonville, Florida, respectively. Auto loans accounted for 39.9 percent of the average debt for millennials in DFW, with student loans at 33.3 percent, credit cards at 16 percent, personal loan debt at 8.8 percent, and “other” at 1.9 percent.
In the No. 1-ranked San Antonio area, median debt for millennials (excluding a mortgage) was $27,122, according to the study. Auto loans made up 43.2 percent, student loans were at 30.2 percent (lower than DFW's rate), credit cards at 14.8 percent, personal loans at 9.4 percent, and “other” at 2.4 percent.
“The millennial generation makes up the younger portion of adults, and as they build their careers, families, and communities, they’re doing it encumbered by personal debt,” Kali McFadden, senior research analyst at LendingTree, says in a release.
Millennials in Texas’ other major metros aren’t much better off than their counterparts in DFW when it comes to debt like student and auto loans, the study shows.
The Austin metro area ranked No. 3 for the highest amount of non-mortgage debt, at $26,164, according to LendingTree. At No. 4 was Houston ($25,978).
Millennials in Austin had higher debt for student loans (35.4 percent) and credit cards (18.1 percent) compared with San Antonio. Like San Antonio, Houston millennials had a big chunk of debt earmarked for auto loans (42.5 percent), with student loan debt at just 29.9 percent.
Among the 50 largest metros, the median amount of millennial debt was $23,064.
Where do millennials carry the least debt? Perhaps surprisingly, in New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose, California, according to the survey.
