Alaska News

Alaskans have highest credit card debt per person of any state

Alaska has the highest rate of credit card debt per borrower in the nation, according to credit information agency TransUnion. The average Alaskan borrower has $7,045 in debt, over $1,000 more than the second-highest state.

TransUnion pulls its data from 27 million anonymous consumer records randomly selected every quarter from their national consumer credit database. The most recent data is from the second quarter of 2012.

Colorado comes in second with $5,728 credit card debt per borrower, followed by North Carolina at $5,619.

The state with the lowest credit card debt? Iowa, with $3,874 in debt per borrower.

Why does Alaska have such high credit card debt? KTVA theorizes that high costs of living in Alaska may be responsible for the debt, or that folks spend big during Permanent Fund Dividend payouts and fail to tone it down for the rest of the year.

Credit card debt has also increased by over 5 percent nationwide, with borrowers holding an average of $4,971 on their credit cards.

TransUnion also reports some good news: national credit card delinquency rates are at the lowest levels in 18 years, with only 0.63 percent of borrowers becoming delinquent on paying their bills.

Read more from TransUnion – or check out tips on how to use credit cards wisely.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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