From today’s Bizwomen comes an article showing ups and downs of credit card balances in US cities, from a study by CompareCards. Top US Cities showing increases in 2017 versus 2018 are Miami (8.6%), Pittsburgh (5.9%) NYC (5.3%, Chicago (5.2%) and San Antonio (4.8%).
At the bottom of the list were those cities which decreased, headed by San Francisco at (-6,4%), Dallas (-4.8%), Baltimore (-4.5%), Charlotte (-2.2%) and Atlanta (2.1%).
In another survey,
- As CompareCards notes, balances of $5,000 or $6,000 sound OK for a city, but when it’s your outstanding balance accruing interest every month, it can quickly become burdensome.
- Some suggestions to whittle away at your balance: Consider a balance transfer that consolidates current balances on a new credit card with a low or 0 percent introductory APR, set up a structured payment system and, probably most important, minimize new spending.
Good stats are important for all credit card companies. Here is another one which illustrates the wages needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment in major cities, which should be a metric used by many credit card issuers:
- A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows what an hourly worker needs to make to afford a two-bedroom rental home — without paying more than 30% of their income — in each state, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.
- Depending on the location, the hourly wages required for housing range from $9.68 (in Puerto Rico) to $35.20 (in Hawaii) for people working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year:
That is great news if you are living in South Dakota, where the average rate is $14.12 per hour, but for Californians, the base number is $30.92.
So many stats, so little time!
Overview by Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group