This Alabama city has 3rd least sustainable credit card debt in the country
The average U.S. household owes more than $10,200 in credit card debt, a figure that’s up 5.6% from the previous year and shows no signs of slowing.
Some people are in a better financial position to pay off that debt, however, as Wallethub found in a recent analysis of the cities where people have the most and least sustainable credit card debt. The rankings were determined using TransUnion credit data to calculate the cost and time required to pay off the median card balances in more than 180 U.S. cities.
One Alabama city landed near the top on the places where credit debt is the least sustainable, meaning people will have the hardest time paying off what they owe.
Birmingham was ranked third in the country for least sustainable credit card debt, coming in behind only Miami at number one and El Paso, Texas at number two. According to Wallethub, the median credit card debt in Birmingham was $2,970 but, due to interest, it would cost $3,455 to pay off. Adjusted for income, it would take Birmingham residents 94 months and 4 days – or almost 8 months – to pay off their debt.
You can compare this to Miami’s median credit card debt was $3,106 or $3,886 cost to pay off with a payoff time of 110 months and 30 days and El Paso’s median debt of $3,097 with a payoff of $3,455 taking about 100 months and 24 days.
Here’s what Wallethub said about Birmingham:
“Birmingham, AL has the third-least sustainable credit card debts, with a median credit card debt of $2,970 and a nearly 8-year payoff timeline. One reason why Birmingham residents may have a lot of credit card debt is that the city’s poverty rate is over 25%, compared to the national average of 11.5%.
Interestingly, while Birmingham residents only pay $1 to $2 more per month toward their credit card debts than people in Miami or El Paso, and they have pretty close median earnings to both cities, they’ll still get out of debt much faster. This shows how big of an impact that compounding interest can have on only a few hundred dollars of extra credit card debt.”
A couple of other Alabama cities made the list, including Montgomery at 35 with median debt of $,2675, Mobile at 68 with median debt of $2,593 and Huntsville at 155 with a median debt of $2,694. You can go here to see estimated payout amounts and times.
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