Georgia

These states are increasing their consumer debt. Georgia ranked fifth

Published

3 weeks ago

February 11, 2026

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These states are increasing their consumer debt. Georgia ranked fifth

As prices continue to rise across the country, Americans are tacking more and more money onto their consumer debt.

Americans have $1.3 trillion in credit card debt, $1.7 trillion in auto loan debt and billions of dollars in personal loans, collectively. Consumer debts also include mortgages, payday loans and student loans.

But, the residents of some states are increasing their debt faster than others.

A new report from WalletHub compared all 50 states for the change in average debt from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2025. Here’s what they found.

States with highest increase in consumer debt

“At a time when interest rates are very high, it’s especially important to minimize the accumulation of debt. Americans have added a staggering amount of new debt in the past decade, and it can be very easy for that debt to become unsustainable leading to future issues like default and major credit score damage,” John Kiernan, a WalletHub editor, said in the report.

Here are the states that increased their consumer debt the most in the second half of 2025.

Maine
Wyoming
Hawaii
Montana
Georgia
New Mexico
North Dakota
Florida
Texas
Vermont

“The average credit card balance in Maine increased by nearly 8% from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025, rising to nearly $8,000,” the report said. “For context, the vast majority of states saw increases of less than 5%”

Maine’s auto loans balances went up 2%, the third highest in the country, while personal loans increased 0.5%, one of only three states that had increases.

Wyoming was second with a 5.5% increase in credit card debt, and a 2.5% increase in auto loan debt, the largest in the country. The state’s personal loan debt, however, decreased by 2.4% during the time period.

States with lowest increase in consumer debt

Here are the states with the lowest increases, or even decreases in debt.

Michigan
Kentucky
Ohio
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Iowa
Missouri
Delaware
Oregon
West Virginia

How can you start to pay off your consumer debt?

WalletHub experts gave a few tips for paying down your debt — and then keeping it down.

You should start by creating a detailed repayment plan that lists all debts, their interest rates and minimum monthly payments to create a schedule to pay the debt down with extra funds. Experts also recommend cutting down unnecessary expenses so money can be redirected toward paying debt.

If possible, you can negotiate lower interest rates with creditors, or even find a temporary fix through a hardship plan. If needed, you can try and find additional income through a part-time job, freelancing or selling unwanted or unneeded items.

If you have debt but also good credit, you may be able to refinance your debt through a balance transfer or debt consolidation loan.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

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Georgia

Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

Published

3 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

ATLANTA – As conflict intensifies between the United States, Israel and Iran, reactions are pouring in across the Atlanta metro area after President Donald Trump confirmed the death of Iran’s supreme leader.

The president confirmed on Truth Social that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint strike led by the U.S. and Israel.

What they’re saying:

“I have been waiting to hear this news for the last 20 years,” said Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, an Atlanta-based pastor born in Iran.

“Ayatollah Khamenei has been responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Iranians over the last three decades. He has been a very evil dictator and a very oppressive tyrant.”

Other local Iranians, like Shohreh Mir, expressed a long-standing desire for internal change rather than outside intervention.

“This was an imposed war,” Mir said. “We still very much would like for Iranian people to change the regime by themselves.”

What’s next:

Tavassoli said the Ayatollah’s death now creates a new issue.

“Ayatollah Khamenei never invested in raising a succession after himself,” he said, “so the crisis of the Iranian revolution and the Iranian regime is there is no legitimate successor.”

While the long-term duration of the conflict remains unknown, Iran has already begun launching retaliatory strikes following the attack.

“This is a huge development for day one, but the war is not over,” Tavassoli noted. “There are still many ways that things can become even more bloody and destructive in the coming days and weeks.”

The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 5’s Rey Llerena speaking with Iranian Americans across Georgia.

IranDonald J. TrumpNewsPolitics

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Georgia

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

Published

15 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – A person was found dead in the 5200 block of Radium Springs Road on Saturday morning, according to Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler.

Body recovered in early morning water rescue call(WALB NEWS 10)

Fowler said the call came in as a water rescue. The body was recovered early Saturday, Feb. 28.

The coroner confirmed the person found was male. His identity and age remain unknown.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

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Georgia

Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

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Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – State legislators are considering more changes to Georgia’s voting law, proposing a new bill that would alter the way early voters cast ballots.

State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, introduced SB 568 this week. The proposal would assign early voters to one precinct in their county. Currently, voters can cast early votes at any precinct in their county.

It would also move early voting to a hand-marked paper ballot system, where voters use a pen to mark their selections, instead of the currently used touchscreen system.

“So that we would not have to print so many permutations at the paper ballots, we would assign voters to an early voting location,” said Dolezal. “Most people are going to vote to the at the early voting location closest to their home anyway.”

The bill was immediately met with backlash from democrats as a barrier to the vote.

“I have no idea how voting on a piece of paper, marking it down with your pencil in any way suppresses the vote,” said Dolezal. “For most counties out of, you know, 140 call it out of 159, they just have one location.”

Dolezal’s proposal would also require local clerks to publicly post their entire voting rolls ahead of elections.

“Making public every single voter who is qualified to vote is to some extent, a little bit of an invasion of privacy for each individual voter,” said state Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta). “We need to have trust in our election officials to run those elections.”

It’s the latest change the legislature has proposed to Georgia’s voting system.

“You have dirty, dirty voting rolls, you’re going to have dirty elections,” Dolezal said.

The bill would also shift responsibility for voter challenges from the counties to the State Elections Board. In addition, it would also move the threshold for an automatic recount in the state from a 1.5% margin to 2%.

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