East Coast Leads U.S. in Credit Card Debt

Americans living in Washington D.C., Connecticut and New Jersey are the nations’ worst offenders when it comes to credit card debt. Inhabitants of all three states piled on more than $7,000 per person on average in 2019, according to data by Experian. More individuals with high outstanding balances could be found in Maryland and Virginia.

This does not mean that that these debtors are not well-off, though. Credit card debt is actually correlated with higher average household incomes (which is, by ways of the credit score, the basis for being able to go into debt in the first place).

The state with the single-highest average credit card debt was Alaska despite income levels being lower here. Every single inhabitant was technically more than $8,000 in debt in 2019. The reasons for Alaska’s predisposition for debt are not entirely understood but could be in connection with the higher cost of living due to the state’s isolation.