July 27, 2015
A study on which cities are most burdened by credit card debt has found that it would take the typical Philadelphian 11 months to pay off their credit card bills, with the average cardholder owing over $4,500.
Yet that still places it as having the seventh-lightest credit card burden out of America’s 25 largest metropolitan areas.
The study came from creditcards.com, a card-comparison website. The site ranked cities by how long it would take the average cardholder there to pay off what they owed and how much interest they would accrue along the way.
The average Philadelphia wallet holds 2.25 credit cards, with a balance of $4,664. To pay that off would take 11 months if the cardholder paid $455 per month, which is 15 percent of the median income in the city.
On top of that, they would have to pony up over $300 in interest.
To calculate their rankings, the website looked at both credit card debt and income. So while some cities racked up the debt, if they could pay those bills then their credit burden was considered light.
Washington, D.C., for example, was ranked as having the third-lightest debt burden even though its average amount owed was a whopping $5,046 – because the median income there is the highest for any metropolitan area in America.
“It’s interesting that the metro areas with the highest average credit card debt don’t necessarily have the highest debt burdens when adjusted for income,” said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s senior industry analyst.
The website used 2014 data from the credit report company Experian to find the average balance on Americans’ credit cards in 25 metropolitan areas. It assumed that consumers would pay 15 percent of the median income in their area each month in order to eliminate their debt.
San Francisco had the lightest credit card burden, thanks to high wages and low debt. Consumers there had an average card balance of $4,393, which they could pay off in nine months.
Residents of San Antonio suffer the worst debt burden. It would take those unlucky Texans 16 months to pay off the average credit card balance of $4,880.
Part of the reason for San Antonio’s predicament may be that there are several military bases in the region. Members of the military who have to move around frequently have more credit debt and fewer assets than average, the report said.
Here are the five cities with the highest and lowest debt burdens:
Highest Credit Card Debt Burdens:
Lowest Credit Card Debt Burdens:
