What I believe is the reason for this discrepancy is that not everyone handles poverty the same. Some states have better social safety nets than others, and some states you can afford to live happily poor while others you cannot. You also have to look at which states have people with the most debt, as while you may not be poor you may instead be at the brink of bankruptcy.
Every state on average has people owing $50k without too much deviation. Another thing to consider is medical debt and how many people choose not to see a doctor and get treated, including the need to be treated for mental health. We're also one of the few countries in the world that doesn't have Universal Health Care and that maybe biting us in the butt in more ways than we thought. How many people choose not to go to college because they can't afford it? How many people aren't getting married and having children because they can't afford it?
You're not going to find out that food has too much Zinc in it, or that Americans have had their brains fried from using their cell phones too much. People have a lack of money and can't sleep and blame others for their situation. This even includes racism as humans have a tendency to blame others for their situation, usually people not like them. The 2008 recession has a cascade effect that nobody has thought of and won't agree that we've been in a recession this entire time because they have jobs and the unemployment is low, because that's how we measure a recession. That and the stock market.