Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com), the consumer’s credit advocate, today released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report with trend data for October 2010. Nationally, credit card debt amongst consumers with a credit card decreased seven percent since January 2010. In addition, consumers in seven states have paid down their credit card balances by more than 10-percent since the beginning of the year. These include:
- Indiana and Tennessee — decreased credit card debt by 10 percent
- Oregon — decreased credit card debt by 11 percent
- Nevada — decreased credit card debt by 12 percent
- Hawaii and Idaho — decreased credit card debt by 13 percent
- Wisconsin — decreased credit card debt by 28 percent
Nationally, credit scores remain at 666 from September 2010 and are down three points since January 2010. In addition, eight states have fair to poor credit scores of 650 or lower. These states include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee.
In October, the average consumer with an account had:
- $7,382 in credit card debt
- $175,571 in home mortgage loans
- $51,178 in home equity
- $15,124 in auto loans
- $28,745 in student loans
“As consumers continue to pay down their debt, we’re beginning to see credit scores stabilize nationwide,” said Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com. “We suspect this focus on financial responsibility will ultimately lead to credit scores increasing again.”
Here are some other key findings:
- California, Massachusetts and New Jersey have the highest credit scores nationally. The average credit score in these states is 684.
- For the second month in a row, Arkansas had the lowest credit scores nationally. The average credit score in Arkansas is 636, remaining stable from September 2010.
- Louisiana saw the largest credit score change since January 2010. The average credit score in Louisiana rose eight points from 639 to 647.
Methodology
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 148,082 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 by providing them with customized savings recommendations. CreditKarma.com’s goal is to help its more than 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 to help consumers improve their financial situation.For more information, visit www.creditkarma.com.