Here are US cities where people have the best and worst credit scores

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If you’re wondering how you fare financially during the pandemic compared to your neighbors, or other Americans in general, your credit rating could be a good measure.

Personal Finance website WalletHub compared TransUnion’s median credit scores of residents in 2,572 U.S. cities in September to list the top and worst performers when it comes to creditworthiness.

Overall, recent research shows that Americans are generally doing well, despite the economic havoc wrought by Covid-19. Thanks largely to federal relief efforts such as incentive checks, breaks on federal student loan and mortgage repayments, and comprehensive unemployment insurance, consumers are saving both more money and debt.

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In fact, WalletHub says debt repayments are at an all-time high. As a result, credit scores are improving across the country. For example, in July, the average national credit score rose to a record high of 711, according to FICO, the developer of one of the most widely used lender scores.

The top five cities with the highest median credit scores, according to WalletHub, were:

  1. The Villages, Florida (807)
  2. Sun City West, Arizona (789)
  3. Sun City Center, Florida (789)
  4. Green Valley, Arizona (788)
  5. Los Altos, California (784)

The bottom five cities are:

  1. Camden, New Jersey (552)
  2. East St. Louis, Illinois (552)
  3. Chester, Pennsylvania (552)
  4. Detroit (560)
  5. Gary, Indiana (561)

Despite all the good news, experts say the pandemic’s full impact on credit scores may not be known until government support ends.

“Serious delinquency rates remain near record lows,” Matt Komos, vice president of research and advice at TransUnion, recently told CNBC. “However, the performance of those accounts that are still in accommodation will help shape the true picture of consumer credit.”

The full results of the WalletHub study are available here.

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