U.S. consumers’ average credit card debt fell during the first eight months of this year, while the average credit score also inched down from the start of the year, according to new data Credit Karma released Sept. 13.
Consumers’ average credit card debt in August was $7,694, down 2.9% from $7,925 in January, according to the San Francisco-based company, whose website tracks credit scores and household debt.
The average U.S. credit score in August were 667, down two points from 669 in January, Credit Karma says.
Regional results varied. Credit scores in Denver, the only metropolitan region to show a credit-score increase, rose five points since January, to 678 from 673.
Consumers in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey had the highest credit scores nationally, with an average of 685 among the three states. Arkansas consumers, with an average credit score of 640, had the lowest credit scores nationally.
“The prolonged unemployment and unhealthy real-estate market may be affecting credit scores negatively, even as consumers are slowly paying down their household debt,” Ken Lin, Credit Karma CEO, said in a statement, noting the “strange mix of economic conditions” causing credit scores to decline while overall consumer debt is also falling.
Consumers’ average home mortgage debt in August was $174,447, down 3.2% from $180,190 in January, while average auto loan debt was $15,186, up 3.1% from $14,736 and average student loans were $28,183, up 7% from $26,337.
