Experian, one of the big-three credit reporting bureaus, has just released their State of Credit in the US report. They’ve also released their top-ten lists of metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest average credit scores. Click on the map below to be taken to an interactive map to look up specific US cities.
source: Experian.com
Which cities ranked the best?
| city | credit score |
| Minneapolis, MN | 787 |
| Madison, WI | 785 |
| Cedar Rapids, IA | 781 |
| Green Bay, WI | 780 |
| San Francisco, CA | 780 |
| Boston, MA | 779 |
| Peoria, IL | 778 |
| La Crosse, WI | 778 |
| Seattle, WA | 777 |
| Sioux Falls, SD | 777 |
…and the worst?
| city | credit score |
| Harlingen, TX | 684 |
| Jackson, MS | 698 |
| Corpus Christi, TX | 700 |
| Shreveport, LA | 701 |
| El Paso, TX | 706 |
| Monroe, LA | 706 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 707 |
| Bakersfield, CA | 708 |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | 709 |
| Tyler, TX | 709 |
How does Reno fare?
According to the Experian report, Reno, NV’s:
- Average credit score: 742
- Average # of open credit cards: 1.8
- Average debt: $25,696
source: Experian
jeff
Does that average debt include home and auto loans, or is it just credit cards?
That average number is interesting, that sheds some light on what it means when a lender says “you have a really good credit score”, when in fact it’s pretty close to the mean.
skeptical
I’m sorry. I just don’t buy it. Something is wrong here. The highest possible score is 850. Anything over 720 is considered “excellent”.
I just do not believe that the average Renoite’s credit is better than excellent and that most people in the cities mentioned have outstanding credit in the wake of this continuing credit and financial cataclysm.
Doesn’t pass the smell test.
smarten
I agree with skeptical on this one.
Further, the credit score models ding you substantially if you’ve been the subject of a foreclosure of short sale; especially where a lender’s obligation has been satisfied for less than what it asserts is actually owed.
In my experience although 850 may be the theoretically highest possible FICO score attainable, I’ve never heard of anyone having a score of much more than 810 [and even then, the number of persons with credit scores above 800 is very few and far between (not nearly sufficient to offset the effect of the large number of persons with FICO scores below 700)].
Just don’t believe the assertion.
Kimo
They’re using a new derived score (VantageScore) that has a range of 500-990, not the FICO score you’re familiar with. Scores above 700 exceed only 44% of the selected population of cities.
MikeZ
Las Vegas … twice as many people as Reno, TEN TIMES as many foreclosures. OOOH!
inclinejj
I have seen very few scores over 800.
Probably less then one half of a percent of all the loans.
With the amount of foreclosures in Reno I find this hard to believe
I call bullshit
Marvinr410
I’ve seen 2 people with over an 800 score, my brother with an 849 fact I’ve seen it and 1 with a 824 seen it. But really I don’t know if numbers are indicative to responsible people always.