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Dayton
Business Journal...
Ohioans deep in
credit card debt
by Tom Demeropolis, DBJ Contributor
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Hopefully, Ohioans financial backs are feeling strong. Because the
state has one of the largest amounts of credit card debt.
The Buckeye State’s total credit card balance is nearly $29 billion,
according to Equifax (NYSE: EFX). Based on percent of income to credit
card debt, Ohio comes in No. 2 in the nation.
The states with the highest credit card balances:
• California, $90.6 billion;
• Texas, $48.8 billion;
• Florida, $47.6 billion;
• North Carolina, $22.4 billion; and
• Washington, $18.3 billion.
Along with these states carrying the most debt, the top 50 metropolitan
areas hit hardest by credit card debt are clustered in those six states.
Ohio is home to the MSA with the second-highest credit-debt-to-income
ratio, Canton-Massillon, which has 17.2 percent of income owned to
credit cards. The highest ratio belongs to Wilmington, N.C.
Dayton fared better than most Ohio cities with a 13.4 percent
credit-debt-to-income ratio. Dayton ranked 31st in the country.
Here’s how Ohio’s other metro areas fared:
• No. 3 in the nation, Toledo, at 16.7 percent of income;
• No. 8 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, at 15.6 percent of income;
• No. 17 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, at 14.26 percent of income;
• No. 22 Columbus, at 13.85 percent of income;
• No. 27 Akron, at 13.7 percent of income; and
• No. 105 Cincinnati, at 11.8 percent of income.
Total consumer debt — which includes mortgage, auto, credit card and
other debt — has declined 8.2 percent from its peak of $11.5 trillion
in October 2008. But 54 million American households owe more than $800
billion in debt to credit card companies.
“The good news is we’re seeing Americans paying off their debts and
becoming more fiscally fit,” Dianne Bernez, Equifax’s senior vice
president for corporate communications, said in a news release.
“However, the numbers show that while people’s intentions are good,
Americans still have a lot of debt to tackle and often don’t know where
to start.”
Dayton Business Journal
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