DENVER (KDVR) — It’s a good thing Coloradans can pay their credit card debt in a timely fashion. They have a lot of it.
Inflation has battered Coloradans’ pocketbooks along with the rest of the country. Nationally, credit card debt is 10% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than it was a year earlier, according to data from the New York Federal Reserve analyzed by Upgraded Points. The nation’s collective credit card balance was $890 billion, higher than any quarter of the last 20 years except the last quarter of 2019.
Thankfully, credit card delinquencies are not at record levels. They have, however, begun climbing in 2022 after two straight years on the downslope.
As a state of comparatively high-income earners, Colorado has one of the nation’s lowest delinquency rates.
About 6.57% of Colorado’s credit cards are past their 90 days delinquent period – the nation’s 10th lowest.
Colorado is an outlier. The states with some of the highest delinquency rates are those, like Colorado, that saw big spurts in population in the national COVID pandemic shuffle. Sun Belt states, in particular, saw large influxes of movers and now see high delinquency rates. Nevada, Florida, Arkansas, Texas and Arizona lead the nation in past-due bills.
That is not to say Colorado has little credit card debt, however.
Colorado has $3,480 worth of credit card debt per capita – the nation’s eighth-highest per capita debt load. Coloradans appear better able to manage their relatively high debt, with the 14th-best average credit score of 728.