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Drowning in Debt
When it comes to consumer debt, many of us are swimming deep in the red. According to the Federal Reserve, Americans’ outstanding revolving credit, which includes credit card debt, was a staggering $801 billion in December. And a Bankrate.com survey released this week reports that one in four Americans has more credit card debt than emergency savings.
The nation’s credit problem becomes even more real when you break down the data by location. Credit reporting agency Equifax did just that, providing us with the top 10 most debt-ridden U.S. cities based on which cities’ residents owed the highest proportion of their average yearly income to credit card companies in the fourth quarter of 2011. The metro areas included in the rankings are defined by geographical standards set by the Office of Management and Budget.
Read on for the full list, and if any of the results surprise you, let us know in the comments section below.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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10th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Montgomery, Ala.
Median household income: $37,964
Number of households: 147,538
Total credit card debt: $572,599,585
Average credit card debt per household: $3,881
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.22%
Photo Credit: Mark Brennan
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9th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Anchorage, Alaska
Median household income: $68,468
Number of households: 143,298
Total credit card debt: $1,005,210,188
Average credit card debt per household: $7,015
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.25%
Photo Credit: AlaskaDude
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8th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Honolulu
Median household income: $62,549
Number of households: 316,589
Total credit card debt: $2,034,056,759
Average credit card debt per household: $6,425
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.27%
Photo Credit: Magnus Brath
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7th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Median household income: $43,413
Number of households: 230,247
Total credit card debt: $1,031,781,014
Average credit card debt per household: $4,481
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.32%
Photo Credit: Dougtone
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6th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis.
Median household income: $67,049
Number of households: 312,732
Total credit card debt: $2,167,600,930
Average credit card debt per household: $6,931
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.34%
*Editor’s note: These two counties are considered a metro area by the Office of Management and Budget for the purpose of collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics.
Photo Credit: Richie Diesterheft
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5th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Colorado Springs, Colo.
Median household income: $54,398
Number of households: 254,066
Total credit card debt: $1,450,099,898
Average credit card debt per household: $5,708
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.49%
Photo Credit: Bob Hall
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4th-Most Debt-Ridden City: Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.
Median household income: $46,674
Number of households: 880,305
Total credit card debt: $4,314,530,744
Average credit card debt per household: $4,901
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.5%
Photo Credit: Infrogmation
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3rd-Most Debt-Ridden City: Fayetteville, N.C.
Median household income: $41,325
Number of households: 140,597
Total credit card debt: $613,113,156
Average credit card debt per household: $4,361
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.55%
Photo Credit: cityoffayetteville.org
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2nd-Most Debt-Ridden City: El Paso, Texas
Median household income: $37,869
Number of households: 265,305
Total credit card debt: $1,093,753,374
Average credit card debt per household: $4,123
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 10.89%
Photo Credit: Drew Avery
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Most Debt-Ridden City: Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.
Median household income: $52,023
Number of households: 639,861
Total credit card debt: $3,826,506,273
Average credit card debt per household: $5,980
Percent of income owed to credit card companies: 11.5%
Photo Credit: Nannette Turner
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The Richest Counties in America
You now know where those most plagued with credit card debt live, but where does America’s wealthiest reside? Find out in MainStreet’s roundup of the richest counties in America!
Photo Credit: Felix Dance
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Tweet alongside us
Kristin Colella is a writer/editor for MainStreet. You can follow her on Twitter at @KrisColella.
And if you haven't already, now is a great time to follow MainStreet itself on Twitter. You'll get all of our most important stories, right as they publish. Follow us @mainstr!
Photo Credit: clevercupcakes
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