Mapping Houston’s neighborhoods with highest rate of student debt delinquency

The millennial generation is slow to get started in the housing market, and many of them put to blame their high amounts of student debt. Mapping Student Debt reports more than 42 million Americans owe a total of $1.1 trillion in school debt.

Using data from the Department of Education and tax information from the Internal Revenue Service, Mapping Student Debt breaks down where borrowers are the most bogged down. The maps below measure ZIP code-level data, average household student loan balances and delinquency in relation to ZIP code median income.

According to the map below, the lighter the color the lower the delinquency rate of loans. Dark purple represents an area with extremely high delinquency.

In Houston, the 77006, 77019, 7707 and 7708 ZIP codes have an extremely low delinquency rate. These areas do also, however, have a high or extremely high average loan balance and a high median income.

In some areas of Houston, like the 77029 ZIP code for example, the delinquency rate is extremely high despite the average loan balance being moderately low. This area has a median income of $31,715.

Let’s take a closer look at the city:

Maps by Mapping Student Debt through an interactive project with the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.