Connecticut has one of the highest student loan payments in the country, a new ranking says.

Personal finance company WalletHub just released its list of states with the highest student loan payments, and Connecticut took the No. 4 spot.

WalletHub said the list was compiled based on consumer data and and the median student loan payment amounts across all states.

“Around 42.2 million Americans owe a collective $1.61 trillion in student loans. That comes out to an average of over $38,000 of debt for each borrower,” the study said.

Here’s why Connecticut ranked high on the list.

How high are Connecticut’s student loan payments?

Connecticut’s median student loan payment is the fourth highest of any state in the country, according to WalletHub’s ranking.

According to the list, Connecticut residents have a median monthly student loan payment of $213.

On the other end of the scale, the states with the lowest monthly student loan payments in the study were Arkansas and Mississippi with a payment of $142.

Which states have the highest student loan payments?

While Connecticut has the fourth-highest student loan payments, several other New England states made the list. See the 10 highest scorers:

1. New Hampshire
2. Massachusetts
3. Vermont
4. Connecticut
5. New Jersey
6. New York
7. Illinois
8. Maryland
9. Colorado
10. Virginia

How the states with the highest student loan payments were ranked

To rank the states with the highest student loan payments, WalletHub said it examined two factors: consumer data and and the median student loan payment amounts across all states.

“To say that Mark made an impact wherever he went or on whoever, it’s for real.”

Michael Brotz spent some time Friday sharing how his brother-in-law, Mark Anthony Palumbo Jr., made that impact. One way was meeting people through his business, Madison Avenue Salon in Madison, where he was a part owner and a stylist. He was also a firefighter and owner of MAP Auto Detailing.

“He kind of had his hand in a few things but everything he did, he did it with passion,” Brotz said. The two were firefighters together and were close friends. Brotz eventually married Palumbo’s sister, something Brotz joked didn’t come easy at first, but their family bond grew stronger.

News of his death Wednesday spread beyond the family and made its way through town.

“I’m sure he’s going to – the family will – get a lot of support because his father is a businessman here so they all know the family,” said Earl Carta, a longtime resident of Madison.

Palumbo died Wednesday evening on I-95 in Westbrook. He was driving his prized 2014 red Ford Mustang when he was hit by a wrong-way driver. Troy Bree, of Groton, is charged with OUI and reckless driving.

“The biggest thing is that driving under the influence of alcohol or substances is intolerable,” Brotz said. “People really need to think about the damage that they can cause and the lives that they can change in the blink of an eye. And that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday night.”

“I just want to see him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added. “I don’t have a lot of forgiveness in my heart right now.”

The Palumbo family is working through levels of grief over Mark’s death. There’s a numbness for some, and others say laughter is helping the tight family support each other.

“I just loved Mark and I loved spending time with him, and I loved the person he was and how he cared for people.”

His brother-in-law says Palumbo’s love grew, and he softened a bit, when he and his wife Amanda welcomed their two girls Carina and Mia.

“Those girls just brought him so much joy and happiness it changed his life in a way that I don’t even think he expected that it could,” Brotz said.

And those are thoughts they hold onto as they try to imagine life without him. There is an outpouring of support for the family on social media. Brotz says it’s not something they expected, but they’re finding comfort in all the messages they’re reading.

“He was a gift to the world. I can’t really say more than that.”

Two Celtics stars were in attendance when the Connecticut Sun hosted the Los Angeles Sparks in TD Garden’s first WNBA game at the end of August — Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.

In a recent interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg, Holiday recounted the experience, saying, “The Connecticut Sun, in my opinion, need to be the Boston Sun.”

“The way that they sold to this crowd was awesome. The way that the city showed up for them was awesome,” Holiday said. “It was similar to how they showed up for us. So, going and watching this game was really cool.”

Despite falling short of making the WNBA Finals, the team proved they have a strong fanbase that is only growing after their 69-61 win over the Sparks in August. A sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 fans attended that game at TD Garden. The Sun usually play home games in front of a significantly smaller crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena, which has a capacity of around 10,000 seats.

Holiday’s comments came after talks of whether Boston could be a viable market for an expansion team considering its large sports scene. The WNBA is adding three new teams, with teams in Portland, Toronto, and Golden State set to join the league in the next two years.

Ray Pineault, the president and CEO of Mohegan (who owns the Sun), said he doesn’t want the WNBA to expand to Boston, though.

“I don’t want another WNBA franchise in Boston,” Pineault told Bookies.com. “As the league grows, we’re going to continue to see growth. We get Massachusetts and Rhode Island fans who come to our games now. I wouldn’t be a big fan of having a Boston team.”

The Celtics guard also discussed how special it was to bring his daughter to the game to see WNBA athletes in action.

“She usually watches us,” said Holiday, “but watching girls that look like her is, in my opinion, kind of cool.”