Credit scores nationwide fell two points to 665 in the first quarter ended March 31, according to CreditKarma.com, which released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report on Wednesday.
What's more, nine states have fair to poor credit scores of 650 or lower, an increase of two states since January. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
"Despite consumers’ best efforts to reduce debt, credit scores continue to decline," says Ken Lin, CEO at CreditKarma.com. "These lowered scores could be the result of larger economic pressures such as the housing market slump and sustained high unemployment."
In other findings, the average consumer with an account in the first quarter had:
* Lowered credit card debt 6% to $6,767
* Lowered home mortgage loans 2% to $171,052
* Decreased home equity 2% to $48,330
* Stabilized auto loans at $15,107
* Increased student loan debt 2% to $29,240
Consumers in seven metropolitan statistical areas lowered their credit card debt by greater than the national average of 6% in Q1. Chicago, Denver, Houston and Miami decreased their credit card debt 7%, while Boston, New York and San Francisco decreased their card debt 8%. Utah lowered its credit card debt the least at just 1%. No states increased their credit card debt in the first quarter.
California has the highest credit score in the country with an average score of 684. Mississippi remains the state with the lowest credit score at 632. In the first quarter, 31 states’ credit scores were down, while just six states raised credit scores.
Each month, the CreditKarma.com U.S. Consumer Credit Score Climate Report compares the current credit scores of its user base with previous scores pulled at least 30 days prior and no more than 90 days prior to the stated month. This month's report includes a comparison of more than 181,733 CreditKarma.com user scores.
