RI Among States With High Credit Card Debt

Rhode Island ranks in the Top 20 among states whose residents carry the most credit card debt, according to a report published Monday by the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St..

The website reviewed the average bank card balance from creditcards.com to see which state's consumers owe the most. Rhode Island ranked 18th in the country, with an average balance of $6,375. That is a little higher than the national average of $6,354.

The website also noted that the average state resident's credit score is 687, again a little higher than the national average of 675. The typical resident carries 3.3 credit cards, compared to the national average of 3.1 .

Americans are more likely to pay with a credit card than ever before, the authors wrote. This is likely because many cards come with attractive rewards for use, such as points, airline miles and cash back.

As a result, Americans owe more than $1 trillion in credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve, up from $854 billion five years ago.

But some states' residents carry more debt than others. The average Alaskan, for example, owes more than $8,500 — the most in America. Here are the 10 states with the most credit card debt:

1. Alaska, $8,515
2. Connecticut, $7,258
3. Virginia, $7,161
4. New Jersey, $7,151
5. Maryland, $7,043
6. Hawaii, $6,981
7. Texas, $6,902
8. Colorado, $6,718
9. Georgia, $6,675
10. New York $6,671

The authors noted there’s a common denominator among people with high credit card balances.
“The more cards, the more income, typically the higher balances are going to show on your card,” Ted Rossman, industry analyst at the research group creditcards.com, told the authors.

And that bears out — states with more debt tend to have higher earners and have more cards per person. These places also have higher costs of living, the authors wrote.

Meanwhile, Iowans have the least amount of credit card debt. The typical Iowan has a balance of $5,155 and 2.7 cards. The state’s cost of living is about 9.8 percent lower than average. Wisconsin, Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia rounded out the five states with the least amount of credit card debt.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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