Student Loan Debt Reaches $1.31 Trillion

Student loan debt in the United States stands at $1.31 trillion, far more than Americans' total outstanding credit card balance of $779 billion.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York calculated the numbers and released a report that includes debt data through the end of 2016.

Other key figures in the report:

• Student loan balances increased by $31 billion from the third to the fourth quarter in 2016.
• 11.2 percent of student loan debt was 90 plus days delinquent or in default by year's end.
• Credit card balances increased by $32 billion from the third to the fourth quarter in 2016.
• 7.1 percent of credit card debt was 90 plus days delinquent by the end of the year.
• Total household debt increased by $226 billion from the third to the fourth quarter and now stands at $12.58 trillion.
• 4.8 percent of all outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency.

Given those numbers, the 2015 national wage average was $48,098.63. That marked a 3.48 percent increase from 2014, according to the Social Security Administration.

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