Cities where consumers are the best and worst at money management

Only two in five adults say they maintain a budget and keep close track of their spending and nearly one in four say they don’t pay their bills on time.

Where do the consumers live who are the best at money management? How about those who are the worst?

WalletHub, a personal finance website, conducted an analysis of “2016's Best and Worst Cities at Money Management.” It compared 2,570 cities based on eight factors. The data range from “credit score” to “average number of late payments” to “mortgage debt-to-income ratio.”

Comparing the best and worst

• Athens, Ohio, has the highest credit-card debt-to-income ratio, 113 percent, which is 23 times greater than in Cupertino, Calif., the city with the lowest, 5 percent.
• Boone, N.C., has the highest mortgage debt-to-income ratio, which is 18 times greater than in West Mifflin, Pa., the city with the lowest.
• Boone, N.C., has the highest car-loan debt-to-income ratio, 404 percent, which is 27 times greater than in Scarsdale, N.Y., the city with the lowest, 15 percent.
• East Lansing, Mich., has the highest student-loan debt-to-income ratio, 745 percent, which is 24 times greater than in Saratoga, Calif., the city with the lowest, 31 percent.
• Alice, Texas, has the highest average number of late payments, 6.96, which is 16 times greater than in Saratoga, Calif., the city with the lowest, .45.
• San Tan Valley, Ariz., has the highest average percentage of credit used, 61.3 percent, which is three times greater than in Laguna Woods, Calif., the city with the lowest, 20 percent.

	Cities whose residents have the best money-management skills			Cities whose residents have the worst money-management skills
	1	Cupertino, Calif.		2551	Lancaster, Texas
	2	Saratoga, Calif.		2552	College Park, Ga.
	3	Laguna Woods, Calif.		2553	Buckeye, Ariz.
	4	Los Altos, Calif.		2554	Indiana, Pa.
	5	Lexington, Maine		2555	Capitol Heights, Md.
	6	Sun City Center, Fla.		2556	Rio Grande City, Texas
	7	Pittsford, N.Y.		2557	Statesboro, Ga.
	8	Palo Alto, Calif.		2558	Clinton, Md.
	9	Scarsdale, N.Y.		2559	Lithonia, Ga.
	10	Chevy Chase, Md.		2560	Fairburn, Ga.
	11	Winchester, Maine		2561	Collegeville, Pa.
	12	Sun City West, Ariz.		2562	State College, Pa.
	13	Potomac, Md.		2563	East Stroudsburg, Pa.
	14	Foster City, Calif.		2564	Mount Pleasant, Mich.
	15	Sunnyvale, Calif.		2565	East Lansing, Mich.
	16	Mountain View, Calif.		2566	Pullman, Wash.
	17	McLean, Va.		2567	College Park, Md.
	18	Bethesda, Md.		2568	Gettysburg, Pa.
	19	Belmont, Maine		2569	Athens, Ohio
	20	Arlington, Maine		2570	Boone, N.C.