44.95% 44.95% Paducah, Kentucky

The metropolitan area anchored by the city of Paducah is home to a population of almost 100,000 across three counties in Western Kentucky, and one county across the state line in Illinois. Like number eight Chattanooga, the percentage of this population burdened by any amount of student loan debt is a comparably low 10.07%, for all of the same reasons. With 1,108 employees, WalMart is the fourth largest employer in Paducah. Only two hospitals and the public school system have more employees, and there is little opportunity for graduates outside of the healthcare, education, and government sectors. Generational credit and debt statistics bear this out: While Paducans have lower average debt loads than the average for all metro areas included in Experian’s data ($34,600 to $38,059), area residents under the age of 35 are falling behind and faring worse than their older neighbors and their national peers ($31,247 in debt on average to $32,599 nationally, among residents between 23 and 34 year olds in Paducah, and $15,330 to $13,812 among those under the age of 23).

