With American consumers estimated to have spent $630.5 billion—much of which with plastic—during the recent holiday shopping season, the credit card comparison website CardHub conducted an analysis of 2016’s Cities with the Highest & Lowest Credit Card Debts. CardHub’s analysts drew upon data from TransUnion, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau and their own payoff calculator to determine the number of months required to pay off the average credit-card balances and associated finance costs in 2,547 U.S. cities.
| Cities with the Most Sustainable Credit-Card Debts | Cities with the Least Sustainable Credit-Card Debts | ||||
| 1 | Cupertino, CA | 2528 | Ames, IA | ||
| 2 | Saratoga, CA | 2529 | Auburn, AL | ||
| T-3 | Mountain View, CA | 2530 | Lake Placid, FL | ||
| T-3 | Sunnyvale, CA | 2531 | Provo, UT | ||
| T-5 | Lexington, MA | 2532 | San Marcos, TX | ||
| T-5 | Los Altos, CA | T-2533 | Stephenville, TX | ||
| 7 | Foster City, CA | T-2533 | Winona, MN | ||
| T-8 | Arlington, MA | 2535 | Ypsilanti, MI | ||
| T-8 | Fremont, CA | 2536 | Milledgeville, GA | ||
| T-8 | McLean, VA | 2537 | Carbondale, IL | ||
| T-8 | Palo Alto, CA | 2538 | Monsey, NY | ||
| T-12 | Falls Church, VA | 2539 | Ruston, LA | ||
| T-12 | Hoboken, NJ | 2540 | Murray, KY | ||
| T-12 | Redmond, WA | 2541 | Stillwater, OK | ||
| T-12 | Scarsdale, NY | T-2542 | Marquette, MI | ||
| T-16 | Bloomfield Hills, MI | T-2542 | Richmond, KY | ||
| T-16 | Powell, OH | 2544 | West Chester, PA | ||
| T-16 | Sammamish, WA | 2545 | Kent, OH | ||
| T-16 | San Ramon, CA | 2546 | Powhatan, VA | ||
| T-16 | Santa Clara, CA | 2547 | College Station, TX | ||
Comparing the Best & Worst
- Beverly Hills, Calif., has the highest average credit-card debt, which is five times greater than in Clarkston, Ga., the city with the lowest.
- Scarsdale, N.Y., has the highest median earnings for workers, which are 10 times greater than in Carbondale, Ill., the city with the lowest.
- College Station, Texas, has the longest payoff timeline, which is 47 times longer than in Cupertino, Calif., the city with the shortest.
To see where your city ranks in credit card debt, view the full report.
