Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com), the consumer’s credit advocate, today released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report with trend data for August 2010. Since January 2010, credit card debt amongst consumers has decreased three percent nationally. Consumers in the Miami and Denver metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) have paid down their debt by 10 percent and 11 percent respectively since the beginning of the year. In addition, consumers in 11 states have paid down their credit card balances by more than five percent. These include:
- Florida and Kansas — decreased credit card debt by five percent
- California, Indiana and Nevada — decreased credit card debt by six percent
- Colorado and Oklahoma — decreased credit card debt by seven percent
- Oregon, Hawaii and Utah — decreased credit card debt by eight percent
- New Hampshire — decreased credit card debt by 11 percent
In August, the average consumer with an account had:
- $7,694 in credit card debt
- $174,447 in home mortgage loans
- $15,186 in auto loans
- $28,183 in student loans
Nationally, credit scores are down two points since January 2010 to 667.
“Even with consumer debt declining, credit scores still fell two points,” said Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com. “This is generally not the case, but we are in a strange mix of economic conditions. The prolonged unemployment and unhealthy real estate market may be affecting credit scores negatively even as consumers are slowly paying down their household debt.”
Here are some other key findings:
- The Denver MSA is the only MSA to increase its average credit score since January 2010. In Denver, credit scores are up five points to 678.
- California, Massachusetts and New Jersey consumers have the highest credit score nationally. The average credit score in all three states is 685.
- Despite increasing credit scores two points since July 2010, Arkansas consumers still have the lowest credit scores nationally. The average credit score in Arkansas is 640.
Methodology
Each month, the Credit Karma 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 134,700 CreditKarma.com user scores.
About Credit Karma
CreditKarma.com is a completely free credit management service that enables consumers to put their credit to work for their overall financial health. CreditKarma.com’s goal is to help its nearly 2 million users realize the everyday cost savings of having a good credit score by providing free credit scores, as well as a range of tools, resources and customized savings recommendations to help consumers improve their financial situation. For more information, visit www.creditkarma.com.