When it comes to credit card debt, Alaskans are in a tough state.
Residents of The Last Frontier owe the highest median balances in the entire country, and also take the longest to pay it off, according to a new WalletHub report on the States with the Highest and Lowest Credit-Card Debts. The personal finance site’s analysts tapped data from TransUnion, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau and WalletHub’s own credit card payoff calculator to determine the median balance per person, the median income per state, the cost of interest until payoff in each place (at an average 16.91% interest rate), as well as how long it would take someone in each state to pay it all.
And Alaska topped the list of 50 states with $4,144 in median credit card debt. The District of Columbia had the second-highest with $3,242, followed by Virginia ($3,081), Colorado ($2,985) and Washington ($2,880).
Alaska also topped the list of states with the least sustainable credit-card debt, meaning it would have the longest payoff timeline — clocking in at 19 months and 11 days, with $575 in interest, to bring that balance back to zero. The other states with the lengthiest payoff times included D.C. (17 months and 12 days), Vermont (15 months and 14 days), as well as Washington and Colorado (both requiring 15 months and three days.)
Related: This guy racked up $16,000 in credit-card debt — 7 ways he found financial freedom
On the flip side, Iowans are shouldering the lowest median credit card debt at $2,091, according to this data, followed by Wisconsin ($2,120), Vermont ($2,227), Kentucky ($2,248) and Mississippi ($2,258.)
And those who want to pay off their plastic the quickest should considering moving to Indiana, where the median balance of $2,313 would take just under 10 months (nine months and 29 days) to pay off. Mississippi, Arkansas, Hawaii and South Dakota residents can also knock down their credit card debt in under a year.
Americans are collectively shouldering more than $1 trillion in credit card debt, and it’s taking them longer and longer to pay it off. A recent report from CreditCards.com found that more than one in three cardholders — some 39 million Americans — have been in debt for at least two years. And a growing number of Americans have more credit-card debt than savings.
Looking for steps to dig yourself out of debt? This man who was $16,000 in credit card debt shared seven lessons he learned while paying that off. Or get tips on transferring it to a credit card with a lower interest rate here.