American consumers rang in the New Year by paying off even higher credit card debt than they did in the old one, and recent moves by the Fed didn't help.
On December 20, 2018, the Fed hiked interest rates for the fourth time last year, costing credit card users nationwide an additional $1.56 billion in interest to service their existing debt, according to WalletHub.
The website has released a new report identifying U.S. cities whose residents have the most credit card debt.
WalletHub examined the median credit card balances of residents in 2,564 U.S. cities, based on TransUnion data. The analysis included credit cards that carried a balance, while excluding store cards.
Using WalletHub’s credit card payoff calculator, study analysts used consumers’ median income and median credit card balance in each city to determine the required number of months it would take consumers to pay off that balance and the attendant finance charges. Rankings are based on all three factors.
In ascending order, here are the top 10 cities with the most credit card debt entering 2019.
10. Sammamish, Wash.
The childhood home of actor Clint Eastwood, this city's median household and family incomes are each more than $100,000 per year. Residents of Sammamish have a median credit card debt of $4,386 with a $575 finance charge that will take an estimated 20 months and 24 days to pay off.
