North Carolina’s Credit Card Debt Lower Than National Average

North Carolina is among the states with credit card debt that’s lower than the national average. That’s according to a report published Monday by the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St., which reviewed the average bank card balance from creditcards.com to see which states are carrying the most credit card debt.

North Carolina ranked 26th in the country, just ahead of Kansas and behind Pennsylvania. Here’s the breakdown for North Carolina:

• Average balance: $6,117 (average U.S. balance $6,354)
• Cost of living: 9.1 percent less than average
• Average credit score: 666
• Average number of credit cards: 3

Americans are more likely to pay with a credit card than ever before, the authors wrote. This is likely because many cards come with attractive rewards for use, such as points, airline miles and cold hard cash back.

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Americans owe more than $1 trillion in credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s up from about $854 billion five years ago. The typical American owes more than $6,300 on bank-issued credit cards, the report found. They have about 3.1 cards and a credit score of 675.

But some states carry more debt than others. The average Alaskan, for example, owes more than $8,500 — more than any other state in America. The cost of living there is also 5.4 percent higher than average. Here are the 10 states with the most credit card debt:

1. Alaska, $8,515
2. Connecticut, $7,258
3. Virginia, $7,161
4. New Jersey, $7,151
5. Maryland, $7,043
6. Hawaii, $6,981
7. Texas, $6,902
8. Colorado, $6,718
9. Georgia, $6,675
10. New York $6,671

The authors noted there’s a common denominator among people with high credit card balances.

“The more cards, the more income, typically the higher balances are going to show on your card,” Ted Rossman, industry analyst at the research group creditcards.com, told the authors.

And that bears out — states with more debt tend to have higher earners and have more cards per person. These places also have higher costs of living, the authors wrote.

Meanwhile, Iowans have the least amount of credit card debt. The typical Iowan has a balance of $5,155 and 2.7 cards. The state’s cost of living is about 9.8 percent lower than average. Wisconsin, Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia rounded out the five states with the least amount of credit card debt.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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