With 45 percent of U.S. adults grading their knowledge of personal finance a C or lower and good financial skills being essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, the free credit score website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Best & Worst Cities at Money Management.
In order to determine where Americans are best at handling their finances, WalletHub compared more than 2,500 cities based on 10 key indicators of money-management skills. The data set ranges from the median credit score to average number of late payments to mortgage debt-to-income ratio.
| Cities with Best Money-Management Skills | Cities with Worst Money-Management Skills |
| 1. Cupertino, CA | 2553. Hinesville, GA |
| 2. Scarsdale, NY | 2554. Dumfries, VA |
| 3. Saratoga, CA | 2555. Locust Grove, GA |
| 4. Los Altos, CA | 2556. Hampton, GA |
| 5. Lexington, MA | 2557. Dolton, IL |
| 6. Sun City Center, FL | 2558. Covington, GA |
| T-7. Palo Alto, CA | 2559. Willis, TX |
| T-7. Foster City, CA | 2560. Jonesboro, GA |
| 9. Mountain View, CA | 2561. Donna, TX |
| 10. Sunnyvale, CA | 2562. Greenwood, MS |
| 11. Princeton, NJ | 2563. Canton, MS |
| 12. Laguna Woods, CA | 2564. Raeford, NC |
| 13. McLean, VA | 2565. Monroe, LA |
| 14. Needham, MA | 2566. Leesville, LA |
| 15. Bronxville, NY | 2567. Union City, GA |
| 16. Chevy Chase, MD | 2568. College Park, GA |
| 17. Redmond, WA | 2569. Ruston, LA |
| 18. Bloomfield Hills, MI | 2570. Bastrop, LA |
| 19. Bellevue, WA | 2571. Lithonia, GA |
| 20. Sammamish, WA | 2572. Fairburn, GA |
Best vs. Worst
- Cupertino, California, has the lowest credit-card debt-to-income ratio, 1.68 percent, which is 7.6 times lower than in Park City, Utah, the city with the highest at 12.71 percent.
- Chester, Pennsylvania, has the lowest mortgage debt-to-income ratio, 124.25 percent, which is 7.7 times lower than in Bell Gardens, California, the city with the highest at 955.31 percent.
- Darien, Connecticut, has the lowest student-loan debt-to-income ratio, 10.52 percent, which is 11.1 times lower than in Ruston, Louisiana, the city with the highest at 117.06 percent.
- Laguna Woods, California, has the lowest average percentage of credit used, 20.30 percent, which is 3.2 times lower than in Herriman, Utah, the city with the highest at 64.35 percent.
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-at-money-management/19256
Readers who are curious to know how their money-management skills compare with those of the average person in their city can view an analysis of their free credit score through WalletHub.
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