FA Playbook

Top 5 places with the best and worst credit

Sun Belt highs, Rust Belt lows

Hill Street Studios | Getty Images

Personal finance website WalletHub.com evaluated average credit scores for residents within 2,570 U.S. towns and cities — and created a list of the municipalities with the best and worst collective credit. CNBC.com presents the top five and bottom five finishers in the following slides.

According to credit reporting agency Experian, the average U.S. credit score is 687. A cursory, general glance at the findings seems to show that populations with the best credit tend to be in Sun Belt meccas — where mostly retirees reside — while those with the worst credit appear to be Rust Belt towns in the East, with larger-than-average minority populations.

Scroll through to discover where America's most financially responsible consumers are living.

— By CNBC's Kenneth Kiesnoski
Posted 22 January 2016

Best Credit, No. 5: Sun City Center, Florida

Source: Sun City Center Chamber of Commerce

Average Credit Score: 753

Source: WalletHub.com

Best Credit, No. 4: Los Altos, California

Visions of America | UIG | Getty Images

Average Credit Score: 754

Source: WalletHub.com

Best Credit, No. 3: Saratoga, California

A house with a round tower and stone exterior wall in Saratoga, Calif.
Boyi Chen | Getty Images

Average Credit Score: 756

Source: WalletHub.com

Best Credit, No. 2: Sun City West, Arizona

Source: Mark Wagner | Wikipedia Commons

Average Credit Score: 758

Source: WalletHub.com

Best Credit, No. 1: The Villages, Florida

MichaelWarrenPix | Getty Images

Average Credit Score: 780

Source: WalletHub.com

Worst Credit, No. 5: College Park, Georgia

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Average Credit Score: 583

Source: WalletHub.com

Worst Credit, No. 4: Forest Park, Georgia

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Average Credit Score: 580

Source: WalletHub.com

Worst Credit, No. 3: Harvey, Illinois

Melanie Stetson Freeman | The Christian Science Monitor | Getty Images

Average Credit Score: 574

Source: WalletHub.com

Worst Credit, No. 2: East St. Louis, Illinois

Source: Mark Schierbecker | Wikipedia Commons

Average Credit Score: 571

Source: WalletHub.com

Worst Credit, No. 1: Camden, New Jersey

Jerry Driendl | Getty Images

Average Credit Score: 566

Source: WalletHub.com