Cities Where Auto Loan Debt Is Increasing the Most

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Cities Where Auto Loan Debt Is Increasing the Most

 

Americans collectively owe over $1.64 trillion in auto loan debt, with the average household owing nearly $14,000. As interest rates have surged in recent years, these loans have become significantly more expensive. A sharp rise in a city’s average auto loan debt can signal that residents are struggling financially or may face challenges down the line.

To identify the cities where auto loan debt is growing the fastest and those where the increases are more modest WalletHub examined its proprietary consumer debt data.

“A big increase in auto loan debt in a city can either show that residents are experiencing financial difficulty because they need to borrow more, or that residents are responsible because they can qualify for larger loan amounts. In most of the top 10 cities driving up auto debt, the extra debt is a bad sign because those cities tend to have high debt delinquency rates and a lot of people experiencing financial distress.”

CHIP LUPO, WALLETHUB ANALYST

Table of Contents

Main Findings

11100100
City Rank
Irvine, CA 1
Irving, TX 2
Fort Wayne, IN 3
Hialeah, FL 4
Henderson, NV 5
Scottsdale, AZ 6
North Las Vegas, NV 7
Fremont, CA 8
Fresno, CA 9
Albuquerque, NM 10
Chula Vista, CA 11
Oakland, CA 12
Charlotte, NC 13
Birmingham, AL 14
New York, NY 15
Plano, TX 16
Reno, NV 17
Tampa, FL 18
Gilbert, AZ 19
Atlanta, GA 20
Newark, NJ 21
Lincoln, NE 22
Nashville, TN 23
Chesapeake, VA 24
Dallas, TX 25
Baton Rouge, LA 26
Kansas City, MO 27
Boston, MA 28
Corpus Christi, TX 29
San Jose, CA 30
El Paso, TX 31
Mesa, AZ 32
Phoenix, AZ 33
Fort Worth, TX 34
Lubbock, TX 35
San Diego, CA 36
Virginia Beach, VA 37
Omaha, NE 38
Honolulu, HI 39
Houston, TX 40
San Antonio, TX 41
Seattle, WA 42
Miami, FL 43
Orlando, FL 44
Los Angeles, CA 45
Riverside, CA 46
Columbus, OH 47
Laredo, TX 48
Washington, DC 49
Austin, TX 50
Arlington, TX 51
Las Vegas, NV 52
Boise, ID 53
Chicago, IL 54
Memphis, TN 55
Pittsburgh, PA 56
Stockton, CA 57
Norfolk, VA 58
Jacksonville, FL 59
Cincinnati, OH 60
Bakersfield, CA 61
Philadelphia, PA 62
Indianapolis, IN 63
Colorado Springs, CO 64
New Orleans, LA 65
Richmond, VA 66
Oklahoma City, OK 67
Tulsa, OK 68
Buffalo, NY 69
Raleigh, NC 70
Long Beach, CA 71
Wichita, KS 72
Garland, TX 73
Jersey City, NJ 74
San Bernardino, CA 75
Greensboro, NC 76
Milwaukee, WI 77
Santa Ana, CA 78
San Francisco, CA 79
Sacramento, CA 80
Portland, OR 81
Minneapolis, MN 82
Tucson, AZ 83
Spokane, WA 84
Baltimore, MD 85
Detroit, MI 86
Anchorage, AK 87
Des Moines, IA 88
Toledo, OH 89
St. Louis, MO 90
Glendale, AZ 91
Louisville, KY 92
Cleveland, OH 93
Durham, NC 94
Aurora, CO 95
Denver, CO 96
Madison, WI 97
Chandler, AZ 98
Anaheim, CA 99
Winston-Salem, NC 100

Cities Where Auto Loan Debt Is Increasing the Most

Overall Rank* City Total Score Change in Auto Loan Debt (Q1 2025 vs Q4 2024) Rank Average Auto Loan Balance & Monthly Payment (Q1 2025) Rank
1 Irvine, CA 86.71 3 2
2 Irving, TX 78.00 2 24
3 Fort Wayne, IN 77.34 1 84
4 Hialeah, FL 71.82 14 6
5 Henderson, NV 70.71 13 9
6 Scottsdale, AZ 69.62 39 1
7 North Las Vegas, NV 69.18 10 30
8 Fremont, CA 67.36 28 4
9 Fresno, CA 67.22 11 35
10 Albuquerque, NM 67.08 9 49
11 Chula Vista, CA 65.88 17 17
12 Oakland, CA 65.37 4 68
13 Charlotte, NC 65.23 8 57
14 Birmingham, AL 64.86 6 62
15 New York, NY 64.84 29 7
16 Plano, TX 64.55 21 16
17 Reno, NV 62.75 16 34
18 Tampa, FL 61.99 23 21
19 Gilbert, AZ 61.97 53 3
20 Atlanta, GA 60.87 32 18
21 Newark, NJ 60.71 7 87
22 Lincoln, NE 60.17 5 96
23 Nashville, TN 59.56 19 45
24 Chesapeake, VA 59.36 20 44
25 Dallas, TX 59.23 27 31
26 Baton Rouge, LA 58.78 24 36
27 Kansas City, MO 58.70 12 79
28 Boston, MA 58.33 34 27
29 Corpus Christi, TX 58.25 22 41
30 San Jose, CA 57.92 50 13
31 El Paso, TX 57.81 51 12
32 Mesa, AZ 57.55 25 42
33 Phoenix, AZ 57.16 26 48
34 Fort Worth, TX 57.05 31 38
35 Lubbock, TX 56.89 59 10
36 San Diego, CA 56.66 43 25
37 Virginia Beach, VA 56.29 30 46
38 Omaha, NE 55.59 18 70
39 Honolulu, HI 54.14 60 22
40 Houston, TX 54.11 52 29
41 San Antonio, TX 53.89 56 28
42 Seattle, WA 53.72 46 37
43 Miami, FL 53.25 80 8
44 Orlando, FL 53.12 48 39
45 Los Angeles, CA 53.05 63 23
46 Riverside, CA 52.91 55 33
47 Columbus, OH 52.90 15 95
48 Laredo, TX 52.54 86 5
49 Washington, DC 51.97 37 58
50 Austin, TX 51.86 75 14
51 Arlington, TX 51.18 41 60
52 Las Vegas, NV 51.14 61 40
53 Boise, ID 50.58 54 51
54 Chicago, IL 50.33 58 50
55 Memphis, TN 49.86 45 65
56 Pittsburgh, PA 49.66 35 71
57 Stockton, CA 48.91 57 56
58 Norfolk, VA 48.80 33 86
59 Jacksonville, FL 48.51 65 52
60 Cincinnati, OH 48.35 42 74
61 Bakersfield, CA 48.03 79 26
62 Philadelphia, PA 47.86 44 78
63 Indianapolis, IN 47.76 36 83
64 Colorado Springs, CO 47.60 72 47
65 New Orleans, LA 47.01 67 55
66 Richmond, VA 46.61 38 90
67 Oklahoma City, OK 46.56 47 77
68 Tulsa, OK 46.08 40 91
69 Buffalo, NY 45.23 49 85
70 Raleigh, NC 44.57 73 61
71 Long Beach, CA 44.02 74 64
72 Wichita, KS 43.37 70 73
73 Garland, TX 43.28 81 54
74 Jersey City, NJ 43.02 87 43
75 San Bernardino, CA 42.50 68 81
76 Greensboro, NC 42.29 64 88
77 Milwaukee, WI 42.06 62 92
78 Santa Ana, CA 41.70 91 15
79 San Francisco, CA 40.49 93 19
80 Sacramento, CA 40.46 78 72
81 Portland, OR 39.80 83 66
82 Minneapolis, MN 39.77 76 80
83 Tucson, AZ 39.16 84 67
84 Spokane, WA 38.57 69 97
85 Baltimore, MD 38.52 85 69
86 Detroit, MI 38.45 66 98
87 Anchorage, AK 38.40 97 11
88 Des Moines, IA 37.50 77 94
89 Toledo, OH 36.53 71 100
90 St. Louis, MO 34.71 88 89
91 Glendale, AZ 34.65 94 53
92 Louisville, KY 34.11 89 75
93 Cleveland, OH 34.02 82 99
94 Durham, NC 33.34 90 76
95 Aurora, CO 32.60 92 63
96 Denver, CO 30.42 96 59
97 Madison, WI 29.20 95 82
98 Chandler, AZ 24.80 99 20
99 Anaheim, CA 23.11 98 32
100 Winston-Salem, NC 6.34 100 93

Note: *No. 1 = Biggest Auto Loans Debt Increases

In-Depth Look at the Cities Where Auto Loan Debt Is Increasing Most

Irvine, CA

Irvine, CA, residents increased their average auto loan balance by over 2.9% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, the third-largest increase in the country. This brought the average auto loan balance in the city to $23,876 and the average monthly payment to $616.

Unfortunately, people in Irvine might not be very well-equipped to deal with this large increase in auto loan debt. The city has notably high debt delinquency rates ranking 34th out of the 100 largest U.S. cities. It also has a moderate share of people in financial distress, meaning they have been temporarily allowed to pause payments due to financial difficulty.

Irving, TX

Irving, TX, ranks second, and it has the 23rd-highest average auto loan balance at $20,932 and a monthly payment of $499 which ranks as the 24th-highest in the country. Irving residents also increased their average auto loan balance by 3.2% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, the second-largest increase.

In addition, Irving ranks among the top cities for the share of people in financial distress. The good news, though, is that its residents seem to be able to manage their high debt load for now. The city falls near the middle of the pack in both credit card balances and debt delinquency rates.

Fort Wayne, IN

Fort Wayne, IN, experienced the sharpest increase in average auto loan balances in the country between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, rising by nearly 4.3%. As a result, the city’s average auto loan balance rose to $17,164, with monthly payments averaging $427.

Fortunately, the increasingly high amount of auto loan debt in Fort Wayne isn’t overly concerning. The city’s residents rank among the average in the country at money management for midsize cities, and it has one of the lowest household credit card debt balances in the country.

Tips for Paying Off Auto Loan Debt

  • Accelerate your payments: Consider making extra payments on your auto loan whenever possible. Paying more than the minimum amount each month reduces the principal faster, ultimately saving you money on interest and shortening the overall repayment period. Just make sure the lender won’t penalize you for paying off the loan early.
  • Refinance for better terms: Explore the possibility of refinancing your auto loan to see if you qualify for a lower interest rate or more favorable terms. Refinancing can potentially reduce your monthly payments or enable you to pay off the loan more quickly. If you have good or excellent credit, you could also consider moving your debt to a balance transfer credit card with a promotional 0% APR.
  • Set up automatic payments: Setting up automatic payments is a wise move with any loan, as it prevents you from being late as long as you have sufficient funds in your bank account. Some auto lenders may even give you a discount for setting up autopay.
  • Budget carefully: Taking the time to create a monthly budget will help you organize your finances and put as much money as possible toward paying off your loan. Try to cut out as much unnecessary spending as you can until you’re free of debt.
  • Increase your income: You’ll have more money to put toward paying off your auto loan if you work extra hours, get a part-time side job, or otherwise boost your income.

Methodology

In order to determine the cities with the largest auto loan debt increases, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities for which we could obtain a complete data set across two key dimensions: 1) Change in Auto Loan Debt and 2) Average Auto Loan Balance & Monthly Payment.

We evaluated the cities using three individual metrics, which drew from WalletHub’s proprietary data on consumer debt. The metrics are listed below with their corresponding weights, each metric being graded on a 100-point scale.

Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample. Our sample considers only the city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.

Change in Auto Loan Debt – Total Points: 70

  • Change in Average Auto Loan Balance (per Tradeline) Q1 2025 vs Q4 2024: Full Weight (~70.00 Points)

Average Auto Loan Balance & Monthly Payment – Total Points: 30

  • Average Auto Loan Debt Balance (per Tradeline) Q1 2025: Full Weight (~15.00 Points)
  • Average Monthly Auto Loan Payment (per Tradeline) Q1 2025: Full Weight (~15.00 Points)

Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of May 1, 2025 from WalletHub database.

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