The personal-finance website WalletHub today released its latest Credit Card Debt Study, which found that consumers paid off $38 billion of their roughly $1 trillion in credit card debt during the first quarter of 2019. Given that this year’s first-quarter paydown was smaller than last year’s, WalletHub now projects a $70 billion net increase in credit card debt during 2019.
The debt picture is worrisome nationwide, but some areas have bigger payment problems than others. WalletHub compared more than 2,500 cities based on how much residents owe to credit card companies – specifically, how those balances changed in Q1.| Cities with the Biggest Debt Paydown | Cities with the Smallest Debt Paydown |
| Ewa Beach, HI | Atlantic City, NJ |
| Darien, CT | Benton Harbor, MI |
| Dix Hills, NY | Bastrop, LA |
| Lake Forest, IL | Dunnellon, FL |
| Southlake, TX | Camden, NJ |
| Westport, CT | Greenville, OH |
| Collegeville, PA | Forest Park, GA |
| Calabasas, CA | Sun City Center, FL |
| Beverly Hills, CA | Laguna Woods, CA |
| Scarsdale, NY | Darlington, SC |
Why is a first-quarter paydown a bad sign for credit card debt?
“Paying off credit card debt always is preferable to the alternative, but history tells us the size of the paydown matters,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou. “It’s normal for credit card debt to decrease during the first quarter of the year as consumers receive annual salary bonuses and tax refunds as well as commit to financial New Year’s resolutions. But a relatively big or small first-quarter paydown can be an important indicator for consumer performance throughout the rest of the year.
In 2018, we began the year by paying off almost $41 billion in credit card debt during the first quarter, and we ended the year owing $67 billion more than we did to start. The fact that we didn’t pay down as much debt during Q1 this year may be a sign that consumers aren’t quite as healthy as some other metrics may indicate.”
