Average Credit Card Debt By City & State

PlasticRewards presents an infographic of the average credit card debt by city and state. See where your city and state rank nationwide.

See the average credit card debt by state along with other credit card facts. Click the image to see a full-size version.

People who are smart with their money stick to a budget. People who are even smarter with their money re-evaluate their budget often. Now, more than ever, presents the need to recalculate your budget.

Things certainly don’t cost what they used to. Bread is more expensive. Milk is more expensive. Eggs are more expensive. Gas used to be extremely cheap. Then, it skyrocketed. Now, it is finally affordable again.

More and more people have become keenly aware of their day-to-day budgets. Some families have been forced to stick to a drastically-lower budget due to a recent layoffs. Other families don’t know it yet, but their turn to enter the layoff market is fast approaching.

The current economy has forced most everyone to take a daily inventory of individual budgets. Budgets need to be constantly changed and altered. Every time your financial situation changes, your budget needs to change along with it.

That is the only way to stay on top of your budget.

One more thing…American families have finally realized how detrimental it is to have massive amounts of debt. President-elect Obama recently pinpointed this catastrophe by saying that millions of American families took advantage of cheap credit to get into debt that they couldn’t afford. Now, these families have to face the realities of a weakened economy.

These families are threatened with losing everything, including their homes.

What will it take for American individuals, couples and families to realize how important it is to stick to a realistic budget.

If you haven’t used a budget before, now is the time to create one.

If you haven’t stuck to a budget before, now is the time to stick to one.

If you have too much debt, now is the time to get rid of it.

If you haven’t learned how to properly and carefully manage your finances, now is the time to learn how.

Now is the time to get everything in order for tomorrow. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

The American economy is struggling in more ways than one. Americans around the country are having a hard time making minimum payments and mortgage payments. Everyone has seemingly “tightened their belts.” Out of all of the bills out there, which one is taking the biggest hit? Credit cards.

The number of two-month credit card delinquencies has risen 24% since August. More and more consumers are finding themselves unable to pay simple credit card bills. These consumers don’t expect to get out of this bind anytime soon.

Retailers and merchants are already feeling the nationwide pinch. Consumers have stopped spending money. However, as the number of credit card defaults continues to rise, the situation will only worsen.

Recent statistics show us that approximately one in every eight credit card holders is in trouble. One in eight card holders will likely default on a department-store-issued credit card. The Fitch Retail Credit Card Index predicts more charge offs in the near future. Charge offs are debts that are deemed to be “uncollectable”. Fitch expects the number of charge offs to surpass 12% in the first half of 2009. The number of current charge offs is already 40 percent higher than the highest levels in 2007.

There is a bit of surprising news however. The Fitch Index reports that retail credit card portfolios remain healthy. How could this be when the number of defaults has escalated so much? The interest rates that are being charged to consumers exceeds the number of charge offs. Thus, the “healthy” retail credit card portfolio status.

So, how reliable is the Fitch Retail Credit Card Index? Well, it tracks more than “$72 billion in principle receivables backing approximately $40 billion of retail or private label credit cards.” Citibank Omni Master Trust and GE Private Label Master Trust are the largest issuers in Fitch’s Index. Some major retailers that are included in the Index are: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Inc., J.C. Penny Co. Inc., Best Buy Co, Sears Holdings Corp.