State Residents with the Best and Worst Credit Strength

*Originally published on the Instamotor Blog.

We ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the credit strength of its residents considering: average credit score and credit card, auto and mortgage delinquencies.

We all know that all states are not created equal, especially when it comes to factors like income, education and cost of living. While all of these factors can affect the relative credit health of residents, it’s not a direct correlation. Credit can thrive anywhere. So we looked into it.

We ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the credit strength of their residents considering the following criteria: average credit score, credit card delinquencies, auto loan delinquencies and mortgage delinquencies. We analyzed all of these credit factors to give each state a score for “Credit Strength” from 0 to 100.

Here Is How The 50 States Stack Up On Credit Strength

Rank	State	Credit Strength
1	North Dakota	96
2	Minnesota	94
3	Wisconsin	89
4	Nebraska	87
5	South Dakota	82
6	Iowa	80
7	Washington	80
8	Colorado	79
9	Alaska	79
10	Utah	78
11	New Hampshire	78
12	Massachusetts	76
13	Idaho	76
14	Oregon	76
15	Montana	73
16	Hawaii	72
17	Vermont	71
18	Virginia	71
19	Kansas	71
20	Wyoming	66
21	Connecticut	62
22	California	62
23	Pennsylvania	61
24	Michigan	62
25	Rhode Island	60
26	Illinois	60
27	Missouri	59
28	Maine	58
29	Ohio	58
30	Tennessee	56
31	Indiana	53
32	Maryland	51
33	Arizona	49
34	Kentucky	49
35	District of Columbia	47
36	New York	46
37	Arkansas	46
38	North Carolina	43
39	West Virginia	43
40	New Jersey	42
41	Texas	40
42	Oklahoma	40
43	Alabama	39
44	Delaware	34
45	Georgia	33
46	Louisiana	33
47	South Carolina	32
48	Florida	30
49	Mississippi	27
50	Nevada	27
51	New Mexico	26

The Midwest Tends to Have the Highest Credit Score

Eighteen states have average credit scores lower than the national average of 669 (Transunion Vantagescore). The state with the lowest credit score average is Mississipi (642) and the state with the highest is Minnesota (707).

These states are fairly representative of their region. Southern states generally have lower credit scores while states in the Midwest tend to have the highest scores. While factors like job opportunities, cost of living and other local influences definitely affect credit-score averages, credit scores can flourish anywhere.

In case you’re wondering, and you probably are, blue states have a higher average credit score (676) than red states (667).

States Rank By Credit Score: Best To Worst

Rank	State	Average Credit Score
1	Minnesota	707
2	North Dakota	700
3	Wisconsin	698
4	South Dakota	697
5	Massachusetts	694
6	Nebraska	692
7	New York	692
8	Hawaii	691
9	Pennsylvania	691
10	New Hampshire	690
11	Colorado	689
12	Iowa	686
13	Connecticut	684
14	Montana	684
15	Oregon	682
16	Washington	682
17	Idaho	680
18	Illinois	679
19	Ohio	679
20	Virginia	679
21	Michigan	678
22	Utah	678
23	California	677
24	Vermont	677
25	Alaska	674
26	Arizona	674
27	Kansas	674
28	Missouri	674
29	Rhode Island	672
30	Maine	671
31	New Jersey	671
32	Wyoming	671
33	Florida	669
34	Maryland	667
35	Indiana	666
36	Tennessee	666
37	District of Columbia	665
38	Delaware	661
39	North Carolina	660
40	Oklahoma	660
41	West Virginia	660
42	Nevada	658
43	Texas	657
44	Alabama	656
45	Kentucky	656
46	South Carolina	655
47	Arkansas	653
48	Louisiana	650
49	New Mexico	648
50	Georgia	644
51	Mississippi	642

Nevada Has The Highest Rate of Credit Card Delinquency

In evaluating the rate of credit card delinquency (percent of credit card debt balances 90+ days past due), the state with the lowest rate is North Dakota (4.22%) and the highest is Nevada (9.88%). Thirteen states have delinquency rates higher than the national average of 7.23%.

However, credit card delinquency is very different from credit card debt balances (the total amount owed). The states with the lowest and highest average credit card debt balances are Mississippi (lowest) and Alaska (highest) respectively.

States Rank By Credit Card Delinquency: Lowest To Highest

Rank	State	Credit Card Delinquency Rate
1	North Dakota	4.22%
2	Wisconsin	4.47%
3	Nebraska	4.82%
4	Alaska	5.01%
5	Minnesota	5.17%
6	District of Columbia	5.22%
7	Washington	5.36%
8	Vermont	5.46%
9	Iowa	5.48%
10	Utah	5.56%
11	Kansas	5.61%
12	South Dakota	5.73%
13	Virginia	5.87%
14	Illinois	5.94%
15	Colorado	6.01%
16	Hawaii	6.02%
17	New Hampshire	6.07%
18	Oregon	6.08%
19	Indiana	6.10%
20	Idaho	6.18%
21	Montana	6.24%
22	Maryland	6.31%
23	Michigan	6.40%
24	Massachusetts	6.43%
25	Connecticut	6.44%
26	Maine	6.49%
27	Wyoming	6.49%
28	Kentucky	6.57%
29	Tennessee	6.67%
30	Ohio	6.81%
31	Mississippi	7.04%
32	Pennsylvania	7.05%
33	Louisiana	7.06%
34	Rhode Island	7.06%
35	Missouri	7.10%
36	Alabama	7.16%
37	New Jersey	7.20%
38	Oklahoma	7.22%
39	West Virginia	7.34%
40	North Carolina	7.36%
41	Georgia	7.37%
42	South Carolina	7.65%
43	Arkansas	7.81%
44	Texas	7.84%
45	Delaware	7.92%
46	California	8.15%
47	New York	8.22%
48	New Mexico	8.32%
49	Arizona	8.63%
50	Florida	9.55%
51	Nevada	9.88%

Washington DC Has the Worst Auto Loan Delinquency

While auto loan delinquency is generally lower than credit card delinquency, it varies a few points from state to state. The percent of delinquent (90+days past due) auto loans is lowest in Minnesota (1.72%) and highest in Washington, DC (5.97%).

Surprisingly, while D.C. has the highest rate of auto loan delinquency, they have the lowest average auto debt balance at $2,930. That’s more than $1000 less than the national average of $4,340.

States Rank By Auto Loan Delinquency: Lowest To Highest

Rank	State	Auto Loan Delinquency Rate
1	Minnesota	1.72%
2	Massachusetts	1.83%
3	North Dakota	1.98%
4	Idaho	2.01%
5	Oregon	2.03%
6	Washington	2.08%
7	Alaska	2.09%
8	Utah	2.11%
9	Iowa	2.13%
10	Connecticut	2.22%
11	Nebraska	2.22%
12	New Hampshire	2.22%
13	Wisconsin	2.22%
14	Maine	2.25%
15	Rhode Island	2.26%
16	Montana	2.57%
17	Vermont	2.57%
18	New Jersey	2.67%
19	Hawaii	2.68%
20	Colorado	2.72%
21	South Dakota	2.72%
22	California	2.92%
23	New York	2.96%
24	Wyoming	2.96%
25	Kansas	2.97%
26	Virginia	3.03%
27	Pennsylvania	3.34%
28	Illinois	3.45%
29	Delaware	3.71%
30	Missouri	3.71%
31	Maryland	3.75%
32	Ohio	3.83%
33	Arkansas	3.89%
34	Tennessee	3.93%
35	Kentucky	4.08%
36	Michigan	4.25%
37	Indiana	4.26%
38	Arizona	4.29%
39	Nevada	4.37%
40	Florida	4.45%
41	West Virginia	4.58%
42	North Carolina	4.73%
43	Oklahoma	4.81%
44	Texas	4.87%
45	Georgia	5.21%
46	South Carolina	5.28%
47	Alabama	5.32%
48	New Mexico	5.40%
49	Louisiana	5.42%
50	Mississippi	5.55%
51	District of Columbia	5.97%

North Dakota Has Consistently Has the Lowest Rate of Mortgage Delinquency

Mortgage delinquency rates are nearly back down to pre-recession rates, when the state with the highest rate of delinquency, Florida, had a rate of more than 20% in 2009 and 2010. During which time, North Dakota was the only state to have a rate less than 2%.

As of 2016, the state with the highest rate of mortgage delinquency is New Jersey (3.45%) and the lowest is North Dakota (0.59%).

States Rank By Mortgage Delinquency: Lowest To Highest

Rank	State	Mortgage Delinquency Rate
1	North Dakota	0.59%
2	Colorado	0.61%
3	Minnesota	0.74%
4	South Dakota	0.74%
5	Nebraska	0.79%
6	Utah	0.86%
7	California	0.87%
8	Alaska	0.93%
9	Kansas	0.96%
10	Virginia	0.96%
11	Wisconsin	0.96%
12	Wyoming	0.96%
13	Idaho	0.95%
14	Michigan	0.99%
15	Washington	1.00%
16	Iowa	1.01%
17	Arizona	1.05%
18	Missouri	1.05%
19	Tennessee	1.07%
20	Montana	1.08%
21	Oregon	1.11%
22	New Hampshire	1.12%
23	Arkansas	1.13%
24	Texas	1.25%
25	Vermont	1.37%
26	Alabama	1.14%
27	North Carolina	1.43%
28	Kentucky	1.46%
29	Indiana	1.48%
30	District of Columbia	1.49%
31	Ohio	1.49%
32	Georgia	1.50%
33	West Virginia	1.56%
34	Hawaii	1.57%
35	Massachusetts	1.57%
36	Oklahoma	1.76%
37	Rhode Island	1.78%
38	Pennsylvania	1.82%
39	Louisiana	1.87%
40	South Carolina	1.91%
41	New Mexico	1.92%
42	Illinois	1.93%
43	Maryland	1.97%
44	Mississippi	2.12%
45	Nevada	2.19%
46	Florida	2.35%
47	Maine	2.35%
48	Connecticut	2.50%
49	Delaware	2.90%
50	New York	3.22%
51	New Jersey	3.45%

Methodology

We analyzed data for all 50 States (and the District of Columbia) on the following four criteria, each 25% of total “Credit Strength” score:

Average credit score (Transunion 2015, Vantagescore).
Credit Card Delinquency [Percent of Credit Card Debt Balance 90+ Days Delinquent] (New York Fed, Q4 2016)
Auto Loan Delinquency [Percent of Auto Debt Balance 90+ Days Delinquent] (New York Fed, Q4 2016)
Mortgage Delinquency [Percent of Mortgage Debt Balance 90+ Days Delinquent] (New York Fed, Q4 2016