U.S. consumers’ average credit scores slipped one point in the past year, and credit card debt fell by 8% to $7,404 during the same period, according to data released Jan. 12 by Credit Karma.
Nationally, consumers had an average credit score of 668 in December, down from 669 at the start of last year although up from 666 in October, according to the San Francisco-based company whose Web site tracks credit scores and household debt.
“As 2010 drew to a close, we saw credit scores stabilize and consumers make great efforts to pay down their debt,” says Ken Lin, CEO at CreditKarma.com. “If consumers continue their focus on financial responsibility, we suspect credit scores nationally will eventually increase in the new year.”
Consumers in six metropolitan statistical areas experienced a credit score decline greater than the national average during the course of 2010. The average credit scores in Chicago, Houston and New York dropped by two points, while they dropped by three points in Los Angeles and San Francisco and by four points in Philadelphia.
Consumers in certain states are paying off their credit card debts faster than average. In Wisconsin, consumers’ average credit card debt declined by 31% since January. In Nevada, the average card debt declined 11%, and in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee, consumers paid down card debt by 11% respectively.
Massachusetts and New Jersey have the highest credit scores nationally, averaging 686. Arkansas had the lowest average credit score nationally at 641. Six states have average credit scores of 650 or lower–Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
Louisiana consumers experienced the largest average credit score shift last year, rising eight points since January to 647 in December.
CreditKarma.com’s U.S. Consumer Credit Score Climate Report compares the current credit scores of its user base with previous scores pulled at least 30 days before and no more than 90 days before the stated month. The December report includes a comparison of more than 157,588 CreditKarma.com user scores.
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