If you are wondering how you are doing financially in the midst of the pandemic compared to your neighbors or other Americans in general, your credit score can be a good yardstick.
In September, the personal finance website WalletHub compared TransUnion’s median credit scores from residents in 2,572 U.S. cities to come up with a list of the best and worst performers when it comes to solvency.
In general, recent research shows that Americans, in general, are doing well, despite the economic devastation caused by Covid-19. Thanks in large part to federal aid efforts, such as stimulus checks, pauses in repaying federal student loans and mortgages and expanding the payment of unemployment insurance, consumers are saving more money and paying off debts.
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In fact, WalletHub says that the payment of the debt is at record levels. As a result, the credit score is actually improving across the country. For example, in July, the average national credit score rose to an all-time high of 711, according to FICO, the developer of one of the scores most commonly used by creditors.
The top five cities with the highest median credit scores were, according to WalletHub:
- The Villages, Florida (807)
- Sun City West, Arizona (789)
- Sun City Center, Florida (789)
- Green Valley, Arizona (788)
- Los Altos, California (784)
The five lowest cities, in turn, are:
- Camden, New Jersey (552)
- East St. Louis, Illinois (552)
- Chester, Pennsylvania (552)
- Detroit (560)
- Gary, Indiana (561)
Despite all the good news, experts say the pandemic’s full impact on credit scores may not be known until the end of government aid.
“Serious levels of delinquency remain close to record lows,” Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion, told CNBC recently. “However, the performance of these accounts still in accommodation will help to shape the real picture of consumer credit.”
The full results of the WalletHub study are available here.