Having a high credit score is extremely important in today’s financial world and is used by dozens of industries to determine whether you’re a risk to them or not. Credit scores are checked for hiring, renting, buying, and even when dating. We all understand how important credit scores are and, while where you live isn’t necessarily going to affect your credit score, we’ve decided to put together a list of top 20 cities with the best credit scores and the worst credit scores below.
While it’s unlikely that any location will have a direct impact on your credit score, you may want to consider that in some cities the average household is more financially stable than in other cities. If we look at the city with the highest average credit score, for instance, Minneapolis-St. Paul has an average median income of almost $70,000/year where as a city like Shreveport with a much lower average credit score, has a median income of only $42,157. So, it’s very possible that the higher incomes directly affected the credit scores as card holders were more financial stable.
Cities with the best credit
Rank | Metropolitan area | State | Average VantageScore 3.0 |
Average number of open credit cards |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL | MN | 702 | 3.48 |
2 | SIOUX FALLS (MITCHELL) | SD | 700 | 3.05 |
3 | DULUTH-SUPERIOR | MN, WI | 697 | 3.19 |
4 | FARGO-VALLEY CITY | ND, MN | 697 | 3.31 |
5 | GREEN BAY-APPLETON | WI | 697 | 3.26 |
6 | CEDAR RAPIDS-WTRLO-IWC-DUB | IA | 697 | 3.23 |
7 | MADISON | WI | 694 | 3.23 |
8 | BOSTON (MANCHESTER) | MA, NH | 694 | 3.60 |
9 | LA CROSSE-EAU CLAIRE | WI | 692 | 3.13 |
10 | BURLINGTON-PLATTSBURGH | VT, NY, NH | 691 | 3.06 |
11 | LINCOLN – HASTINGS-KRNY | NE | 690 | 3.25 |
12 | JOHNSTOWN-ALTOONA | PA | 689 | 3.30 |
13 | SAN FRANCISCO-OAK-SAN JOSE | CA | 689 | 3.40 |
14 | PEORIA-BLOOMINGTON | IL | 689 | 3.49 |
15 | PITTSBURGH | PA | 688 | 3.65 |
16 | PORTLAND-AUBURN | ME, NH | 687 | 3.08 |
17 | HONOLULU | HI | 687 | 3.24 |
18 | HARRISBURG-LNCSTR-LEB-YORK | PA | 685 | 3.50 |
19 | ALBANY-SCHENECTADY-TROY | NY | 685 | 3.46 |
20 | HARTFORD – NEW HAVEN | CT | 683 | 3.59 |
Cities with the worst credit
Rank | Metropolitan area | State | Average VantageScore 3.0 |
Average number of open credit cards |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | HARLINGEN-WSLCO-BRNSVL-MCA | TX | 628 | 2.81 |
2 | LAS VEGAS | NV | 628 | 3.03 |
3 | JACKSON, MS | MS | 629 | 2.29 |
4 | FLORENCE-MYRTLE BEACH | SC | 633 | 2.72 |
5 | BAKERSFIELD | CA | 634 | 2.87 |
6 | AUGUSTA | GA, SC | 635 | 2.66 |
7 | COLUMBUS-TUPELO-WEST POINT | MS, AL | 635 | 2.38 |
8 | SHREVEPORT | LA, TX, AR, OK | 635 | 2.34 |
9 | SAVANNAH | GA, SC | 637 | 2.77 |
10 | MEMPHIS | TN | 637 | 2.64 |
11 | FRESNO-VISALIA | CA | 639 | 2.82 |
12 | COLUMBUS, GA | GA | 639 | 2.67 |
13 | MONROE-EL DORADO | LA, AR | 639 | 2.39 |
14 | MACON | GA | 640 | 2.68 |
15 | TYLER-LONGVIEW(LFKN-NCGD) | TX | 641 | 2.78 |
16 | MONTGOMERY (SELMA) | AL | 641 | 2.70 |
17 | TALLAHASSEE-THOMASVILLE | FL, GA | 642 | 2.54 |
18 | CORPUS CHRISTI | TX | 642 | 2.75 |
19 | EL PASO | TX | 644 | 2.99 |
20 | AMARILLO | TX | 644 | 2.75 |
Credit score and open credit card data are from Experian. We analyzed 143 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.
Source: creditabsolute.com