Americans owe nearly $13.2 trillion on their mortgages, and the personal-finance company WalletHub recently released its report on the “States Adding the Most Mortgage Debt” to show where homeowners are struggling the most.
The survey compared the 50 states based on its proprietary data on mortgage debt from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025.
The states (ranked No. 1-10) with the largest debt increase were Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Nevada, California, South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Texas
The states (ranked No. 41-50) with the lowest increase of debt were Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Kansas, New Mexico, West Virginia, North Dakota and Vermont.
“Mortgage interest rates are the highest they’ve been in around a decade, and home prices have seen a meteoric rise in recent years as well,” WalletHub Editor John Kiernan said in the report. “Even small increases in home prices can lead to thousands of dollars in extra mortgage interest costs for homeowners, so it’s important to choose wisely when deciding where and when to buy a house.
“Alaska residents added the most mortgage debt from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025, at least in percentage terms, with the average balance rising by 2.52 percent to $248,013. Only one other state had an increase above 2 percent, and 19 states even saw decreases during Q4,” he added.