Millennials average about $38,877 in student loan debt per borrower. With the oldest Gen Zers already out of college and entering the workforce loaded up with student debt of their own, will they fare any better than their older millennial siblings? GOBankingRates asked the experts.
Gen X — Average debt: $140,643
With ages ranging from 41 to 56, Gen Xers have a wide range of life experiences, along with the highest average debt of any generation. Many members of Gen X are sending their kids to college for the first time, while still carrying an average student loan balance of just over $45,000.
Also in 2016, 60.4% of 24- to 29-year-old students collected an annual average of $11,030 in educational loans. 62.3% of students aged 30 years or more collected an annual average of $10,940 in loans. Adults aged 30 to 45 years owe nearly half of all student loan debt.
In 2020, generation Z in the United States had an average of 17,338 U.S. dollars in student loan debt. By contrast, Generation X had the highest student loan debt, amounting to approximately 45,000 U.S. dollars. The value of outstanding student loans has been consistently rising over the past few decades.
14.8 Million millennials have student loan debt, more than any other generation. Millennials carry an average balance of $38,877 per borrower.
The average net worth of millennials is $18,000. However, this varies quite a bit across the millennial age range.
By the time Generation X members were in their 30s, they had an average wealth of $84,414 (inflation rates taken into consideration), while millennials had an average wealth of $64,412. The average baby boomer had a wealth of $132,960 in their 30s, more than double the wealth of millennials around the same age.
Boomers are most burdened by credit-card debt, which an average of 81.4% of boomer consumers are dealing with. That's more than any other generation, and they also carry the highest overall median balance of $3,958.
67% of millennials report having credit card debt, while just 36% face student loan debt.
Since they are now the country's largest generation—83.1 million people, according to the US Census Bureau—the millennial debt crisis is a national issue. Millennials are the most indebted generation in history. A quarter of all US citizens aged 18 to 34 owe more than $30,000.
A good goal is to be debt-free by retirement age, either 65 or earlier if you want. If you have other goals, such as taking a sabbatical or starting a business, you should make sure that your debt isn't going to hold you back.
Student Loan Debt by Age
17.7% of people with a student loan balance are under the age of 25. 68.6% of indebted student borrowers are between 25 and 50 years old. 34% of adults aged 18 to 29 years have student loan debt, making them more than twice as likely as adults in any other age group to have student debt.
Even though household net worth is on the rise in America (at $141 trillion in the summer of 2021)—so is debt. The total personal debt in the U.S. is at an all-time high of $14.96 trillion. The average American debt (per U.S. adult) is $58,604 and 77% of American households have at least some type of debt.
The average American has $90,460 in debt, according to a 2021 CNBC report. That included all types of consumer debt products, from credit cards to personal loans, mortgages and student debt. The average amount of debt by generation in 2020: Gen Z (ages 18 to 23): $16,043.
He is ... the most indebted man in the world. Jérôme Kerviel is learning one of life's harsher lessons: It stinks to be $6.3 billion in debt.
Some of the differences in wealth among the generations can be attributed to student debt. More millennials borrow to pay for college than previous generations, and the loans are bigger.
Outstanding consumer debt in the U.S. is currently around $14.88 trillion, representing an average individual debt of nearly $93,000, according to data from an Experian consumer debt study.
The average millennial has over $4,000 in credit card debt—other generations have more.
We recently released the findings of the largest study of millionaires ever conducted, with 10,000 people participating. We also surveyed the general population, and we found out that 74% of millennials believe millionaires inherited their money. So do 52% of Baby Boomers.
Baby Boomers: Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. They're currently between 57-75 years old (71.6 million in the U.S.)
In 2004, millennials had an average portfolio value of $3,200, while Gen Z'ers at the same age in 2019 held an average of $950, the numbers show that more Gen Z'ers are already taking steps to start building wealth.
Sixty percent of millennials raking in over $100,000 a year said they're living paycheck to paycheck, found a survey this June by PYMNTS and LendingClub, which analyzed economic data and census-balanced surveys of over 28,000 Americans. It found that about 54% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
At age 35, your net worth should equal roughly 4X your annual expenses. Alternatively, your net worth at age 35 should be at least 2X your annual income. Given the median household income is roughly $68,000 in 2021, the above average household should have a net worth of around $136,000 or more.