Way to go, Des Moines! The 10 most 'financially responsible' cities across America

USA Today

11 hours ago

A group of midwestern cities, including Des Moines, Iowa, Madison, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, rank among the most 'financially responsible' in the nation, according to a new report.
Minneapolis has a strikingly low share of consumers with maxed-out credit cards. Madisonians use an admirably low quotient of their available credit. Des Moines residents don't spend too much of their income on housing.
LendingTree, the personal finance site, ranked the 100 largest metropolitan areas on five metrics of financial health, focusing on the ideal of living within one's means. The July 7 report draws from Federal Reserve and Census data, and from a sample of 260,000 anonymized LendingTree users.
Here are the 10 most 'financially responsible' cities
According to LendingTree, these are the 10 most financially responsible cities in America:
Several other midwestern cities rank in LendingTree's top 20 for financial responsibility, including Kansas City, Missouri (13), Cincinnati (14), Columbus, Ohio (18) and St. Louis (20). Other financially healthy metros include Knoxville, Tennessee (12th on the list), in the South, and Rochester, New York (16), in the Northeast.
According to LendingTree analysts, the cities near the top of the ranking tend to have solid household incomes and reasonable living costs. Those qualities go hand in hand with good credit.
'So much of this whole report gets down to income and credit scores,' said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree. 'While income doesn't go into your ability to get a credit card, for example, it plays a major role in setting how much of a credit limit you get once you do get the card.'
Five cities where consumers live within their means
Here are snapshots of the top 5 metros for financial health:
If the most 'financially responsible' metros have anything in common, apart from geography, it might be cost of living. Some of the nation's most notoriously costly cities, including New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle, sit further down the list. (San Jose is a notable exception.)
'There's not much substitute for having a low cost of living,' Schulz said. 'It impacts everything you do financially.'
Five ways to improve your credit score
Three of the five metrics in the LendingTree analysis concern credit. Maxed-out cards and excessive credit inquiries tend to hurt a consumer's credit score. A lower credit score can mean higher interest rates on loans and lower limits on credit cards.
Here, then, are five expert tips for building a better credit score.
Pay bills on time
The biggest component of a FICO credit score, 35%, is 'payment history.' It means, quite simply, paying your bills on time.
That means 'not missing any of your payments, especially more than 30 days,' said Sara Rathner, credit cards expert at NerdWallet, speaking to USA TODAY in June. 'All of the hard work you've been doing can be undone with one missed payment.'
Credit cards, mortgages, rent, utilities: Just about anything can show up on a credit report as delinquent, if the creditor takes the time to report it.
Try to make payments on time, Rathner said. If you miss a payment, correct the oversight quickly.
Don't use too much credit
The second-largest factor in a credit report, accounting for 30%, is 'amounts owed.' That metric refers to credit utilization: how much of your available credit you actually use.
The goal is to use as little of your available credit as possible. Having a higher credit limit – and more credit cards − can help keep your utilization rate low, provided you use credit carefully.
Pay off your cards every month, if you can, experts say. Try not to use too much of your available credit.
'I think the best practice here is to try to keep your utilization under 30%,' said Joel O'Leary, personal finance writer at Motley Fool Money, speaking to USA TODAY in June. 'But I think the sweet spot is 10%, or even less than 10%.'
Build a credit history
Length of credit history accounts for 15% of a credit score. This metric is all about time: How long your credit accounts have been open, their average age, and how often you use them.
It's smart to keep old, zero-balance credit card accounts open, experts say, especially if they carry no annual fee. Keeping them active will boost your available credit, while also documenting your credit history.
Monitor your credit report
Nearly half of all credit reports may contain errors, according to research by the consumer groups Consumer Reports and WorkMoney. Some errors can lower your credit score.
Consumers should review their credit reports at least once a year, experts say. You can access your reports at no cost on the website AnnualCreditReport.com.
If you find an error, report it to the credit bureau. If the error is on a specific account, you can also contact the company directly.
Beware of 'hard' credit inquiries
Any time you apply for new credit and the creditor pulls your file, it can affect your credit score. These are called 'hard inquiries,' and they can influence your score for 12 months, according to Experian.
You'll typically incur a hard inquiry if you apply for a credit card, auto loan or mortgage, among other scenarios. The takeaway: Be careful about triggering too many credit inquiries.