MIAMI–All U.S. cities have some residents who are behind on credit card payments, but the delinquency rate is increasing in some cities much more quickly than in others, an indicator that city’s economy is in trouble, according to a new analysis from WalletHub.
To highlight the cities where people are having the biggest issues paying their credit card bills, as well as the places where borrowers are more on track, WalletHub said it analyzed proprietary user data for Q1 2023 to Q1 2024.
The analysis identified the top 10 cities where debt is increasing the most and the least, as the chart shows.
The Top Three
The top three cities where debt is increasing the most, according to WalletHub, include:
- Chula Vista, Calif. “Credit card delinquency is increasing the most in Chula Vista, Calif., as the city’s residents were delinquent on nearly 85% more credit card tradelines in Q1 2024 than Q1 2023,” WalletHub said. “One reason why Chula Vista’s delinquency rate is increasing so much is that its residents are simply borrowing more. Residents of Chula Vista added the sixth-most credit card debt over the past year, along with the second-highest overall balance. Consequently, many people find it hard to pay their bills.”
- Madison, Wis. The long-time home to credit unions in the U.S., Madisonians were behind on payments for nearly 84% more credit cards in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023, WalletHub reported. “Interestingly, Madison residents are struggling to pay their credit card bills despite having a relatively low amount of credit card debt and a low year-over-year increase compared to most other major cities. Considering that Madison residents generally have good budgeting skills, perhaps the issue is mostly people who were already delinquent becoming delinquent on additional cards.”
- Garland, Texas. The number of delinquent credit card accounts in Garland, Texas increased by around 83% between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, which ranks third nationally. “Garland residents had the 24th-highest year-over-year credit card debt increase out of more than 180 cities, so that could be one of the reasons for the increased delinquency rate,” according to WalletHub. “But it’s not just credit card delinquency that residents are struggling with – Garland has the 18th-highest delinquency rate for all types of debt combined.”
The Methodology
In order to determine the cities most delinquent on credit cards, WalletHub said it compared the 100 largest cities for which we could obtain a complete data set using proprietary user data on consumer delinquency rates between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. The sample considers only the city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.
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