The U.S. Cities Paying Off the Most Household Debt, Mapped

It can be a big accomplishment to pay off a debt like student loans or a car loan, but even paying down debt can be a sign that you're doing well financially.

There is quite a bit of debt held by households in the United States with almost $18.9 trillion in debt, according to WalletHub, with $339 billion of that debt being paid off in the first quarter of 2026. Most of that money was tied up in home mortgages but colleges, cars, and credit cards also have a big role to play in that accumulating debt and how much is getting paid off.

Where you live could also have an effect on how fast you're paying off debt with some cities getting more debt off their household balance sheets than others. Is your city good at paying off its debts? Check out the infographic below, followed by a breakdown of the data.

California Sinks Its Debt

1. Santa Clarita, California
2. Fremont, California
3. San Jose, California
4. Gilbert, Arizona
5. Irvine, California
6. Rancho Cucamonga, California
7. Huntington Beach, California
8. Chula Vista, California
9. Scottsdale, Arizona
10. Pearl City, Hawaii

California leads the way with paying off debt with seven of the top 10 cities paying off the most debt in the first quarter of 2026.

Santa Clarita owned the most with the average household debt at $495,675 compared to the United States average of only $155,607. But the city also paid off a total of more than $700 million in debt in the first quarter of the year, or $9,237 per household.

Second-place Fremont also carries substantial debt and pays it off with $392,495 per household and $7,314 paid off in the first quarter.

San Jose came in third place when it comes to debt paid off with a typical household owing $334,349 in debt and paying off $6,230 in debt for the first quarter of the year. But the Silicon Valley city also paid off the most overall debt by far of the cities of the top 10, according to WalletHub. In fact, San Jose residents paid off more than $2 billion in debt in the first quarter of this year.

But one big factor that's contributing to these cities having big debts—and paying off big debts—is monthly mortgage payments.

The median monthly mortgage payment in the United States was $2,131 in March 2026, according to The Motley Fool. But California has the second-highest median payment at $3,001, behind only the District of Columbia at $3,181.

And the California cities in the top 10 cities that paid off the most debt also had the most debt to pay off. San Jose and Fremont, for example, topped The Motley Fool's list of highest median monthly mortgage payments by metro area. Both cities have a median mortgage payment of more than $4,000 a month.

Where is the Debt Disappearing

Borrowers could have several places on their budget where they owe debt, but they're also paying off those debts.

Mortgage debt, for example, was down almost $230 billion in the United States in the first quarter of 2026, according to WalletHub, compared to only $33 billion in the same quarter in 2025.

Auto loans for Americans were also down $14 billion for the quarter, and student debt decreased by $38 billion.

Credit card debt is also a big factor with Americans holding roughly $1.25 trillion in credit card debt for the quarter or roughly $10,366 per household.

A study last year by WalletHub found that the top five cities that owed the most credit card debt per household included Santa Clarita, Chula Vista, Rancho Cucamonga, and Fontana (New York City was the only non-California town in the top five). All of the California cities are also on the list of cities paying off the most debt. But as WalletHub pointed out, these California cities also have high payoff rates and low delinquency rates.

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