Posted on 11/28/2024 3:47:50 PM PST by ChicagoConservative27
This map visualizes the average credit card debt held by households in each U.S. state and ranks the states where residents pay off the debt the fastest and slowest.
Data is sourced from Bankrate (2024) who also used average monthly household income to calculate how long it takes to pay off balances.
Households in Alaska and Washington D.C. are carrying more than $7,000 in credit card debt, the highest across the country. However, with average annual household incomes of $109,000 and $149,000, residents in both states can pay off their debt in about 15–20 months.
In fact, glancing through the numbers below reveals a pattern.
(Excerpt) Read more at visualcapitalist.com ...
My Credit Card debt: $0.00 I grew up despising debt, and I still do to this day.
The average credit card interest rate is 20.42 percent, down from a record-high 20.79 percent set on Aug. 14, 2024.
https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/advice/current-interest-rates/
6k to 7k is about our average. We have on average 2 months of charges. We charge everything we can to get points that reduce our costs by at least 2%. We scheduled each card to be paid off monthly.
The averages are not that far apart between the states.
My credit card debt is also 0. Have one business card that I pay off every month. I think many Freepers are also in the same position.
My credit card debt stays at $0.00, too.
I pay it off every month.
That is $1,200 in interest per year paid on top of the ‘cut’ that the card issuer gets for every transaction or if you pay hundreds just to have the credit card.
I fit right in the FL stats, but I have a good excuse. A years ago I had the house ductwork replaced, and I signed a finance agreement thinking it was a loan like a car loan. It turned out to be a credit card application, and the loan was a credit card purchase at a special rate. So now I have a credit card balance which I’m paying off double time so I can go back to zero balancing my cards every month.
I posted data in post 10 just to show how little the average family debt is in comparison to the US debt.
You’re not alone. same here.
Which means that somewhere, someone is making up for it to make that high of an average.
We almost got scammed like that once many years ago.
We were in an airport and these guys were at a table promoting frequent flyer miles. Sounded real good but it turned out to be that you signed up for a credit card, but they weren’t telling you that part.
We were PISSED when we found out. Read the company the riot act about fraudulently representing the card, and got out of it, and NEVER fell for anything like that again.
Same here. Don’t even use credit cards.
Don’t forget the fee that cards charge the merchants. In other words, the card companies make money even when we charge on it but pay it off with no interest.
I buy almost everything with a credit card. Between I an my wife about 2500 dollars a month. I pay it all monthly and have not paid any interest on a card for over 33 years. I treat my card as if was cash from my bank account and it is.
I just paid mine off, but at my income level, that won’t last long.
But $7,000 in debt average per household? I was recently in that situation once, and I swiftly paid that down from another source. Didn’t like the notion of being stuck with hundreds of dollars in interest.
Airline miles and other “perks” enjoyed by those comfortable enough to rack them up are fully funded through higher interest and late fees coughed up by those who aren’t.
Cabela’s tried that in Boomtown. Same technique. I locked up when they asked for my SS#.
Paid cash.
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