Georgia ranked among top 10 worst states for money management

ATLANTA — With United States households sitting on a record $14 trillion in debt, it's no surprise that credit card balances rose by $13 billion this year. In fact, consumer debt is now about $1.3 trillion higher than the previous peak set in 2008, according to CNN.

And Georgia residents are no different than the rest of the nation. The financial website WalletHub ranked the state among the top 10 states with the highest credit card debt back in September. And now a new report places Georgia among the worst states for managing money.

A new report released by CreditCards.com ranked the best and worst states for money management by comparing the median annual household income and the average credit score in each state and the District of Columbia.

The median annual household income data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, while the average FICO credit score information was taken from an Experian report that was published this year. Each state was ranked in each category, then the credit score ranking was subtracted from the income ranking.

CreditCards.com predicted that the states with higher incomes would have also have higher credit scores, but the report's findings told a different story.

Georgia ranked No. 6 for the worst state for managing money. The Peach State's median household income ranked 29th and its average credit score was 45th. According to the report, high delinquencies and a young population dragged Georgia down.

This article was written by Crystal Villarreal, with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cox Media Group