Maybe all those $4 coffees are to blame, but according to a new study Seattle ranks highest in consumer debt. Residents of Seattle hold an average of $26,646, according to Experian. However, Dallas, Denver, and Atlanta follow close behind. Well over half of the cities surveyed were over the national average in consumer debt which was at $24,775 in March.
Orlando came in tenth on the survey, and according to an Orlando Sentinel report, residents’ personal debt has more than doubled over the last ten years, which some local experts are calling staggering. “It’s been increasing every year for a long time, but the latest figure is even bigger than I would have guessed,” said George Janas, an executive with Winter Park-based Consumer Debt Counselors Inc, in an Orlando Sentinel report. “It tells us the number is getting frighteningly high, and there are a lot of people who are under it.”
Here are the top 20 rankings, along with average debt per person:
- Seattle, $26,646
- Dallas, $26,599
- Denver, $26,428
- Atlanta, $26,063
- Phoenix, $26,035
- Houston, $25,790
- Washington D.C., $25,702
- Tampa, $25,603
- Philadelphia, $25,544
- Orlando, $25,316
- Minneapolis, $25,115
- Detroit, $24,995
- Sacramento, $24,826
- Chicago, $24,781
- Boston, $24,670
- Cleveland, $24,669
- New York, $24,444
- San Francisco, $24,429
- Miami, $24,334
- Los Angeles, $24,009
Officials behind the new study say that although Seattle may have high consumer debt, residents typically manage it responsibly. “Seattle’s consumers have very few late payments and are not maxing out their credit cards, so they are using their credit wisely and maintaining higher credit scores,” says Experian’s Maxine Sweet in a report. In order to develop the data for this study, Experian analyzed a sample of its credit reports across the country. The study includes credit cards and car loans, but not mortgage debt.
Number two on the list, Dallas, has actually been experiencing a drop in debt, but their credit scores are also dropping. “That likely means more missed payments and higher utilization,” said Sweet. The Dallas News reports that the city’s consumers are using an average of 29.54 percent of their available credit. Nationally, consumers are using an average of 28.47 percent of their available credit. “It’s important to look at the whole picture when evaluating how consumers are actually managing their credit,” Sweet said.
Tags: credit score, credit, consumer debt, personal finance, credit history
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