10 Cities With the Highest Credit Scores
The average credit score, one of the best measures of financial responsibility, is finally starting to stabilize, after a steady slide from 2006 to 2009, suggesting consumer belt tightening is starting to work.
The national average was 747.10 at the end of 2010, according to Experian, one of the three big credit-reporting agencies. That’s on a scale of 501 to 990.
Experian, along with the other major credit-reporting agencies, Equifax and TransUnion, use a system called VantageScoreto determine a person’s credit score. It takes into consideration your payment history, how much you use your credit cards, if you carry a balance, how long you’ve been using credit cards and how much credit is still available to you.
VantageScore 2.0, which launched at the beginning of 2011, blends data from two different timeframes – 2006 to 2008 and 2007 to 2009 – in order to distinguish those people who may have been fiscally responsible before the recession but fell on hard times in the past few years.
Here are 10 cities that had the highest credit scores at the end of 2010. All but two cities on the list have unemployment rates well below the national average.
Bert Sperling of BestPlaces.netsaid when he studied “fiscal fitness” of cities a few years ago, western Pennsylvania and the Midwest ranked high, just as they did on this list. “Talking with financial professionals in those areas, they spoke about a culture of thrift, saving, and the ability to look at the long term. Psychologists would also call this an ability to defer gratification,” he said. “There is also something in the Germanic and Scandinavian ethic that is more frugal and less indulgent.”
Some of the other cities on the list are notable high-tech hubs, where there tends to be more demand for jobs and higher income.
Click through to see if your city made the list.
Sources: Credit data from Experian are for December 2010, and unemployment data from theLabor Department are for February 2011, the most recent periods for which those data are available. Other data were compiled by BestPlaces.net.
By Cindy Perman
Posted 6 Apr 2011
10. Sioux Falls, SD
Average credit score: 773.44
Median household income: $46,244
Median home cost: $139,000
Average monthly credit-card charges: $3,446.18
Unemployment rate: 5.4%
Sioux Falls has successfully transitioned itself from an agriculture-based economy to a more diverse economy, including financial services, health care and retail. The biggest employers include Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Sanford Health and Avera Health.
Real estate is significantly lower than the national average, as is the cost of living, which is 12.6% lower than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The sales tax is 5.9%, and there is no state income or corporate tax.
9. Fargo, ND
Average credit score: 773.85
Median household income: $40,236
Median home cost: $142,460
Average monthly credit-card charges: $4,225.65
Unemployment rate: 4.7%
Fargo has also lessened its dependence on agriculture in recent decades. Its economy is now more diverse, including food processing, manufacturing, technology, retail, education and healthcare. Its biggest employers include Sanford Health, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Microsoft and Swanson Health Products. It’s also a college town – North Dakota State University is here.
Not only are real estate prices lower than the national average here, but the cost of living is also 10% lower than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The sales tax is 6%, and income tax is 5.54%.
8. Harrisburg, PA
Average credit score: 775.59
Median household income: $31,255
Median home cost: $78,610
Average monthly credit-card charges: $3,945.79
Unemployment rate: 7.7%
Harrisburg has a large and diverse economy, including services, health care and technology. The largest employers include Penn State, Hershey and Tyco Electronics.
The median household income is lower than the national average, but home prices are less than half the national average, and the cost of living is nearly 19% lower than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. Sales tax is just 6% , and income tax is 3.57 %.
7. Seattle, WA
Average credit score: 775.66
Median household income: $57,390
Median home cost: $361,940
Average monthly credit-card charges: $4,877.34
Unemployment rate: 9.3%
Seattle has a mix of industrial companies like aerospace giant Boeing and technology companies like Microsoft and Amazon. It’s also a popular place for tech start-ups. And, of course, it’s the headquarters of the Starbucks coffee chain.
Seattle is something of an anomaly on the list . It has high real estate prices, a cost of living that’s nearly 43% higher than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net, and its unemployment rate is above 9%. But the average household income is much higher, at $57,390, and there’s no state income tax. State sales tax is 8.9%.
6. Lincoln, Neb.
Average credit score: 776.16
Median household income: $47,475
Median home cost: $108,110
Average monthly credit-card charges: $3,644.90
Unemployment rate: 4.2%
Lincoln’s economy is diverse, including services, medical, banking and technology. It’s also a college town, with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. BryanLGH Medical Center is one of the city’s largest employers. And four regional restaurant chains started here, including Amigos, Runza, DaVinci’s and Valentino’s.
Lincoln has much lower real estate prices and a cost of living that’s more than 17% below the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The median household income is slightly lower than the national average. Sales tax is 7 % and income tax is 6.84%.
5. Boston, MA
Average credit score: 777.79
Median household income: $50,782
Median home cost: $425,300
Average monthly credit-card charges: $4,257.02
Unemployment rate: 7.5%
Education is one of the biggest chunks of Boston’s economy, with more than 100 universities here, including Harvard, MIT, Boston College and UMass. Financial services is also big – Fidelity is headquartered here , and many banks have regional headquarters here. Plus, several big publishing companies are headquartered here, including Houghton Mifflin. It’s also home to Liberty Mutual, Gillette and New Balance.
Household income is just shy of the national average, while the average home price is nearly double the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The cost of living is a whopping 62% more than the national average, while sales tax is 5% and income tax is 5.3%.
4. San Fransisco, CA
Average credit score: 779.26
Median household income: $71,410
Median home cost: $676,660
Average monthly credit-card charges: $4,070.41
Unemployment rate: 9.9%
Tourism is probably the biggest industry in this city on the Bay, with Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, Candlestick Park, Alcatraz and nearby Napa Valley. It’s got a lot of financial and tech companies – Wells Fargo, Craigslist and Twitter are all headquartered here.
Income is higher here than the national average , but everything costs a lot more: Home prices are more than triple the national average and the cost of living is double, according to BestPlaces.net. Sales tax is 8.5% and income tax is 9.3%.
3. Minneapolis, Minn.
Average credit score: 784.12
Median household income: $45,628
Median home cost: $171,670
Average monthly credit-card charges: $4,426.72
Unemployment rate: 6.9%
Minneapolis has transitioned from a flour milling and timber town to a diverse economy, including retail, finance, transportation and health care. Several Fortune 500 companies are based here, including Target, US Bancorp and Ameriprise Financial. Most of the state’s GDP comes from Minneapolis. And one of the largest malls in America, the Mall of America, is nearby, which has helped draw tourists to this Midwest city known for its frigid winters.
Home prices are cheaper than the national average, thought income is slightly lower and the cost of living is 3.7% higher than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The sales tax is 7.15% and the income tax is 7.85%.
2. Madison, Wis.
Average credit score: 785.30
Median household income: $50,726
Median home cost: $189, 290
Average monthly credit-card charges: $3,677.23
Unemployment rate: 6.0%
Score another one for the Midwest – Madison, Wisconsin comes in at No. 2 on the list. It’s a big college town, home to the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which contributes a lot to the local economy. It’s also known as highly educated town with nearly 50 percent of the population having a college degree. The biggest employers include Spectrum Brands, Alliant Energy, American Girl and Oscar Mayer. It has a diverse economy, including services, technology, health, biotech and advertising, and was among the U.S. cities least affected by the recession.
Home prices are cheaper than the national average here, though incomes are slightly lower and the cost of living is nearly 1% higher than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net. Sales tax is 5.5% and income tax is 6.75%.
1. Green Bay, Wis.
Average credit score: 786.06
Median household income: $42,834
Median home cost: $109,200
Average monthly credit-card charges: $3,632.00
Unemployment rate: 8.0%
And the city with the highest credit score is … Green Bay, Wisconsin!
Green Bay’s economy includes manufacturing, health care and education. The biggest employers include Humana, and Schneider National. It’s home to the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and the famous Green Bay Packers football team. (Who had time to blow their credit when they were trying to figure out what the deal was with Brett Farve?)
Household income is lower than the national average , but home prices are way lower and the cost of living is nearly 14% lower than national average, according to BestPlaces.net. The sales tax is 5.5% and the income tax is 6.75%.