The Office of Financial Empowerment convenes, innovates, and advocates to strengthen the economic security and mobility of all San Franciscans.
![At What Cost? Student Loan Debt in the Bay Area](/ofe/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-06/Student%20Loan%20Debt%20at%20What%20Cost.png?itok=GeDymeJd)
At What Cost? Student Loan Debt in the Bay Area
This report provides an in-depth look at student loan borrowing in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. As of March 1, 2018, approximately 735,000 Bay Area student loan borrowers (12.2 percent of the adult population) owed a collective $26.6 billion in student debt, with an average balance of $36,243. Nationally, total student loan debt climbed to $1.46 trillion by the end of 2018, more than doubling in size in the past decade, making it now the second largest source of consumer debt.