Sara Routhier, Managing Editor of Features and Outreach, has professional experience as an educator, SEO specialist, and content marketer. She has over five years of experience in the insurance industry. As a researcher, data nerd, writer, and editor she strives to curate educational, enlightening articles that provide you with the must-know facts and best-kept secrets within the overwhelming worl...

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Joel Ohman is the CEO of a private equity-backed digital media company. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, author, angel investor, and serial entrepreneur who loves creating new things, whether books or businesses. He has also previously served as the founder and resident CFP® of a national insurance agency, Real Time Health Quotes. He also has an MBA from the University of South Florida. ...

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Reviewed by Joel Ohman
Founder, CFP®

UPDATED: Jan 31, 2012

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With an outstanding average balance of $16,128, Orange County residents owe more on their auto loans than any other county in the nation, reports CreditKarma.com.

 

The national average of individual outstanding car loan debt rests at $15,504, but Orange County exceeds that average by over $600. However, despite the higher balance, CreditKarma.com says that O.C. residents are better at managing it. The average O.C. resident’s credit score in December was 691—which is 31 points higher than the national average’s rating of 660.

 

Larger debts and a higher cost of living is nothing new to O.C. residents—as their homes cost, on average, $200,000 more than the nationwide average of $173,876. Average debt for education debt also rests more than $2,000 above the national average.

 

But despite the fact that Orange County takes the gold for the county with the highest outstanding auto loan debt, the same doesn’t hold true for the state it resides in. Rather, Alabama’s residents lead the country with an average of $20,996 in outstanding car loan debt.

 

According to CreditKarma, that state’s credit score is significantly lower than its county-leading counterpart. In December, Alabama residents were reported to have the third lowest average credit score in the nation with a low 645.

 

Since there’s a direct correlation between credit rating and offered interest rates, Alabama’s high vehicle financing debt may be attributed to their resident’s low credit score. Those curious about their individual credit scores can acquire one free annual report from AnnualCreditReport.com, and can compare that to their state’s average credit trends. 

 

The top five highest credit score states are:

  1. Wisconsin — 690
  2. Minnesota — 685
  3. Hawaii — 684
  4. Massachusetts — 681
  5. New Jersey — 681

 

The top five lowest credit score states are:

  1. Mississipi — 632
  2. South Carolina — 640
  3. Louisiana — 640
  4. Arkansas — 641
  5. Alabama — 642