Is Pembroke Pines drowning in credit card debt? Here’s what a new study found
If you’ve been feeling the squeeze of your last credit card statement, a new study shows you’re in good company.
Americans cumulatively owe $1.35 trillion in credit card debt, approximately $11,000 per household, as of late March, according to a recent report by WalletHub.
The hardest pill to swallow? Pembroke Pines is a top 20 contributor to that steep and ever-rising figure.
In a June 11 study, the Miami-based personal finance company compared 182 of the United States’ largest cities — the 150 most-populated cities and at least two of the most-populated cities in each state — to see how they measured up.
Using consumer finance data from the Federal Reserve and TransUnion, one of the big three credit reporting agencies in the U.S., WalletHub averaged the results, adjusted for inflation and rank-ordered the cities.
Where did Pembroke Pines land? At No. 14, sporting an average credit card debt of $18,373 per household and $1,191,929,594 citywide.
The southwest Broward city snagged the highest rank of the 11 Florida cities on WalletHub’s list, with Fort Lauderdale ($17,158 per household, $1,389,802,190 citywide) the next at No. 28.
Here’s how the other nine Sunshine State cities fared:
- Port St. Lucie: No. 62; $16,663 per household; $1,398,864,132 citywide
- Cape Coral: No. 45; $15,778 per household; $1,398,864,132 citywide
- Miami: No. 50, $15,378 per household; $2,995,945,778 citywide
- Tampa: No. 60; $14,937 per household; $2,483,743,884 citywide
- Jacksonville: No. 64; $14,849 per household; $5,856,048,694 citywide
- St. Petersburg: No. 72; $14,397 per household; $1,716,752,636 citywide
- Hialeah: No. 85; $13,897 per household; $1,070,702,869 citywide
- Tallahassee: No. 89; $13,807 per household; $1,177,908,388 citywide
- Orlando: No. 91; $13,764 per household; $1,805,595,729 citywide
Feeling discouraged?
Consider yourself lucky to not be among the high spenders of New York City, Pearl City, Hawaii, or Santa Clarita, Chula Vista and Rancho Cucamonga in California, which WalletHub dubbed the top five cities with the highest amount of credit card debt.
The personal finance company also says to remember that dollar amounts don’t tell the full story.
Many of the cities topping the list are considered to “have high median incomes, high debt payoff rates and low delinquency rates.”
That means residents “may simply have high credit card limits and can afford to borrow more,” according to WalletHub analyst John Kiernan.
If that doesn’t apply to you, WalletHub suggests following these six steps:
- Get caught up. Ask your credit card issuer how much you need to pay to avoid a “delinquency” status on your account and remember to pay the minimum amount required when you receive your next statement.
- Build an emergency fund that totals at least six months worth of expenses. Set aside a portion of each paycheck to ensure unexpected emergencies don’t dig you deeper into debt.
- Make a debt payoff budget. Assess and categorize your spending habits. Try to cut out as many luxuries as possible to bring your spending below your monthly income.
- Start with your highest interest rate debts. It will save you more money in the long run.
- Pay the minimum amount required for other balances to avoid tanking your credit score or incurring late fees.
- Repeat until you are debt free.
