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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

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Track Of Bills

• More than half (56%) have missed a payment because they forgot it was due
• Nearly 2 in 5 (39%) use a calendar to keep track of when bills are due
• More than one third (35%) wait for statements to know when bills are due
• 31% keep track of bill due dates by memory

Making Payments

• Nearly half (49%) make most of their payments online
• However, 37.7% don’t have any bills on auto-pay

Budgeting

• 2 in 5 (40%) do not have a detailed budget
• 14% don’t track expenses at all
• More than quarter (25.8%) don’t have a savings account at all, of those who do have one, only 1 in 3 have auto deposits

But Maybe These Methods Aren’t Working

• Nearly 15% of people feel their money management is not effective

5 Tips For Mastering Bill Management And Budgeting

Sign-up for online bill pay. If you’re not already paying your bills online, you should be. Paying online allows you to pay your bills easily, quickly and safely. No payments delayed or lost in the mail. No waiting on hold to make payments by phone. In fact, companies actually prefer that you pay online due to increased speed and security. It also helps to remind you when bills are due.

Enroll in automatic payments. If you really have a hard time remembering to pay bills or maybe you simply don’t want to be bothered, you should enroll in automatic payments. Auto-pay allows for you to schedule for payments to automatically be withdrawn from your account. You can even sometimes schedule payments to coordinate with your pay schedule. Enrolling in auto-pay is a good way to ensure you never miss a bill again, just be sure to monitor your accounts to make sure payments are actually being withdrawn as scheduled.

Pay your bills when you get paid. A good way to make sure that bills get paid on-time and that you have enough money for all your bills is to pay them when you get paid. There’s no need to wait for the due date to pay your bill, pay it early. If you get paid bi-weekly, split your bills into two pay schedules depending on their due date and pay a set of bills with each check. This eliminates the need to keep track of every due date throughout the month.

Consider using an online tool to create a budget. There are many, many online tools available to help you create a budget without having to do a ton of the math yourself. Companies like Mint not only help you create a budget that meets your needs by incorporating your goals and expenses, but they also help you stick to it by sending you alerts when you are overspending and reminding you when bills are due. Other great online tools include: Wally, You Need a Budget and Accorns.

Sweep excess funds into a savings account. There’s probably no need to convince you that having a savings account is a good idea. But how do you fund it? Fund it with whatever extra money you have at the end of the month (or pay period). I know it’s tempting to spend that extra cash, but whether it’s $10 or $100, it adds up. There are also several savings accounts that will round-up your transactions and stash the change in a savings account. Make saving money a priority.

Methodology

We surveyed 1,200 Americans (who identified themselves as managers of their household finances) via the survey platform Pollfish about their methods and feeling towards their bill management. The survey was conducted on November 28, 2017.

We surveyed 800 millennials, employed full-time, about their financial life as it relates to their parents support and we found:

Many Parents are Still Footing the Bill for Their Millennial Children

Nearly a quarter (24%) of millennials who work full-time say their parents pay at least one of their bills. Additionally, nearly 4 in 5 (79.7%) millennials with parents footing bills do not live at home.

The most common expense paid by millennial’s parents? Cell phone bills (53%), followed by car insurance (30.7%), car payments and utilities (29.7%).

More than 4 in 5 (84%) millennials say their parents would help them if they had a financial emergency like car trouble or medical expenses, and more than 3 in 5 (62.4%) say their parents have or would help them pay for their wedding.

Some Parents Don’t Have Their Millennials’ Complete Financial Picture

While parents may be paying the way, they may not know everything about their child’s financial life. More than 1 in 3 (36.6%) millennials say their parents don’t know how much money they makeand nearly just as many (32.1%) say their parents don’t know the cost of all their bills and expenses. More than 1 in 5 (22%) say their parents don’t know anything at all about their spending habits.

Millennials Feel Well Prepared by Their Parents to Make Good Financial Decisions

Perhaps the reason millennial parents are relatively hands-off in millennials day-to-day finances is because they’ve prepared their millennials well to make financial decisions for themselves. 
More than half (56.8%) of millennials feel their parents prepared them well to make good financial decisions. Nearly 4 in 5 (78.5%) say their parents have given them financial advice.

The most common topic discussed is the importance of saving (71.5%), followed by budgeting (59.3%) and debt such are credit cards and loans (49.6%). 
The topic least discussed by millennials with their parents? Investing. Only 1 in 3 (34.8%) millennials who have received financial advice from their parents has discussed investing such as stocks, bonds and 401k accounts.

Tips for Talking to Your Adult Children About Finances

If you’re anything like the parents of the millennials we surveyed, you’ve probably already given your adult children at least some financial advice. However, maybe you aren’t sure if they heard you or are actually heeding your advice. No worries, here are some tips for talking to your children about finances in a way that will make them most receptive to your advice.

Be thoughtful about what topics you need to discuss. If you’ve been feeling more like a bank than a parent lately, maybe this is a good sign that budgeting and bill managements are topics that you should discuss your child. If it’s been a while since they’ve asked you for money, it may be safe to assume that they have basic budgeting and bill management down pat. Now might be a good time to talk to them about saving and investing for the future.

Let it be a discussion, not a lecture. Remember to talk with them and not at them. The last thing your adult child wants is to be told what they should and should not do with their hard earned money. Discussions about money will go over much better if you talk to them like a fellow adult, or even a peer.

Be brief and accurate. Again, it’s not a lecture. In fact, this doesn’t even have to be a long winded, sit down conversation. “Does your company offer a 401k? You should start contributing. It’s best to start contributing sooner than later. I’ll send you an article about it.” Making brief and accurate suggestions are the best way to get through to your adult child. Even better, arm them with information to make a decisions for themselves, like sending an article.

Call for backup. Maybe the fact is that your son or daughter just doesn’t want to hear it from you. That’s when it’s time to call for backup. Recruit the help of someone else in their life that they would take financial advice from. Maybe that’s a favorite aunt or uncle, older sibling or family friend. It’s more important that they get the information and advice that they need to be successful, not who they get the information from.

Methodology

We surveyed 800 millennials who are employed full-time (at least 35 hrs/week) in the U.S. about their financial life in relation to their parents via the survey platform Pollfish. The survey was conducted Jan. 12, 2017.