According to U.S. Census 2020-2021 estimates, Chicago has a population of approximately 2.7 million people. Credit Karma data from August 17, 2022 shows that the average total debt of 686,380 Credit Karma members living in Chicago is $50,000. This includes auto loans, student loans and mortgages.
Continue reading to see an overview of Chicago’s debt situation.
Snapshot of Credit Karma Stat
Total debt in Chicago
Chicago’s 686,380 Credit Karma members had a total debt of $58.98 trillion. The average individual debt was $50,872. The median overall debt for individuals was $50,872. This suggests that a small percentage of the population has significantly higher debt than others, pushing the average up. This debt has an average payment of $466.
Credit Karma members have an average national debt of $49,454 and a median of $11,223.
Chicago’s debt dial
Image: chicagodebtgauge-2
Student loans, auto loans, mortgages, and credit card debt in Chicago
Below is a table that shows averages and medians of different types debts among Credit Karma members in Chicago.
|
Debt type |
Credit Karma members who have debt type |
Average debt |
Median debt |
Average next payment |
| Auto loan | 410,659 | $22,108 | $18,182 | $558 |
| Student loan | 285,360 | $38,792 | $18,388 | $58 |
| Hypothec Mortgage | 191,526 | $287,489 | $228,761 | $2,000 |
| Credit card | 653,667 | $6,539 | $3,053 | $185 |
How does Chicago’s population compare to national averages? Below is a table that compares the national average to the averages for Chicago Credit Karma members.
|
Debt type |
Average national credit of Credit Karma members |
Chicago member average debt |
| Auto loan | $24,042 | $22,108 |
| Student loan | $32,004 | $38,792 |
| Hypothec Mortgage | $235,194 | $287,489 |
| Credit card | $6,469 | $6,539 |
Credit Karma members in Chicago had greater debt than the national average in all types of debt, except for auto loan debt. The average student loan debt in Chicago is over $6,000 higher than the national median, while mortgage debt is greater than the national average by more that $52,000.
Where does Chicago rank in comparison to other cities?
We compared the average Credit Karma member living in 100 top cities according to U.S. Census 2021 population estimates.
Chicago is the 47th most expensive city among Credit Karma members. Credit Karma members in Chicago have an overall average debt of $51,483. This is lower than Charlotte, North Carolina where members have an overall debt average of $51,483, and higher than Spokane, Washington where members have an overall debt average of $50,695.
Here are the Chicago members compared to members from other top 100 American cities.
- Auto loan debt: 65th highest
- Credit card debt: 39th highest
- Student loan debt: 10th highest
- Mortgage debt: 31st highest
Credit inquiries, past-due accounts and credit inquiries in Chicago
The average VantageScore 3.0 credit score among Credit Karma members was 666, while the median score was 672. Both of these are prime. Credit Karma members had a national average VantageScore 3.0 of 673 and a median score of 682.
Chicagoans had an average of 6.8 inquiries on their credit reports. The national average was 4.2.
Chicago residents have an average of 0.69 accounts that are 30 days late. Nationally, the average account was 0.74.
Methodology
We analyzed the accounts and transactions of approximately 686,000 Credit Karma members in Chicago, who were active within the past 36 months to determine the averages for each type of debt. The averages were calculated using information from TransUnion credit reports for members from the 90-day period prior to data pull on Aug. 17, 2022. This analysis includes auto lease, auto loan and credit card. It also includes student loan debt. All numbers were round to the nearest whole in this report.
All data in this article were taken on August 17, 2022.