For many of us, credit scores are very important.
“Lower interest rates [on loans], better insurance coverage, and access to better credit cards are just a few of the benefits you can experience when establishing a good line of credit,” wrote Alex Miller, chief executive of Upgraded Points, a travel information service.
You can add eligibility for loans too.
See: How Long Will $500,000 in Retirement Savings Last in Your State?
Upgraded Points has produced a report on the best and worst cities for boosting your credit score. The ratings are based on the following factors in order of their weighting.
· Cost of living index, weighting: 17.5%.
· Unemployment rate: 17.5%.
· Per capita personal income: 15%
· Interest rates: 12.5%.
· Minimum wage: 12.5%.
· Number of financial advisors per capita: 10%.
· Mean credit score: 10%.
· Average credit card debt: 5%.
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The 10 Best CitiesThe top 10 cities are:
1. Boston
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2. San Jose, Calif.
3. Rochester, N.Y.
4. Albany, N.Y.
5. San Francisco
6. Minneapolis
7. Salt Lake City
8. Syracuse, N.Y.
9. Madison, Wis.
10. San Diego
The average credit score in the top 10 is 713. As for particular cities in the top 10, Boston has one of the nation’s highest average minimum wages at $14.25 an hour and a low unemployment rate of 3.7%, the report says.
Albany is the only small city to make the top 10, with a population of only 99,224. Also, it’s 30% cheaper on average to live in one of the three New York cities in the top 10 than the national average. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City has the lowest cost of living in the top 10.
The 10 Worst CitiesThe bottom 10 cities, starting with the worst are:
1. Houston
2. El Paso, Texas
3. Dallas
4. New Orleans
5. San Antonio
6. Memphis
7. Austin, Texas
8. Atlanta
9. Oklahoma City
10. Nashville
As for highlights about the bottom 10, Texas has one of the nation’s lowest average credit scores—at 674, 40 points lower than the national average, the report says.
Texas also has the country’s highest average credit card debt, $5,308. And it has one of the nation’s lowest minimum wages: $7.25 an hour. All that helps explain why five Texas cities appear amid the bottom 10.
Meanwhile, the average credit card debt for the bottom 10 cities is $5,131.
Given all this information, perhaps all your exes won’t end up in Texas.