SMARTASSET News:It’s no secret that people love using their credit cards. It’s not uncommon to see friends squabble over who gets to pay the bill at a group dinner.
Between cash back rewards, airline miles and other benefits that credit card companies offer – people have plenty of incentive to break out the plastic.
Eventually the credit card bill comes due and if it isn’t paid in full, cardholders start accruing interest. Managing that credit card debt can be difficult and some people are better at keeping that debt low than others.
In light of this, SmartAsset, a financial technology company, set out to find the places in the U.S. where people carry the least credit card debt.
According to the company’s third annual study on the topic, Los Alamos County ranked among the places in New Mexico with the least credit card debt. To see how the leaders in New Mexico compared, check out the table below:
|
Rank
|
County
|
Income
|
Wealth
|
Credit Card Debt
|
Credit Card Debt as % of Income
|
Credit Card Debt as % of Wealth
|
Lowest Credit Card Debt Index
|
|
1
|
Los Alamos, NM
|
$51,148
|
$136,641
|
$3,278
|
6.4 %
|
2.4 %
|
99.64
|
|
2
|
Eddy, NM
|
$28,308
|
$25,080
|
$1,945
|
6.9 %
|
7.8 %
|
90.58
|
|
3
|
Lea, NM
|
$23,804
|
$15,777
|
$1,708
|
7.2 %
|
10.8 %
|
85.32
|
|
4
|
Sierra, NM
|
$18,982
|
$21,782
|
$1,792
|
9.4 %
|
8.2 %
|
84.60
|
|
5
|
Grant, NM
|
$23,011
|
$24,756
|
$2,120
|
9.2 %
|
8.6 %
|
84.55
|
|
6
|
San Juan, NM
|
$22,460
|
$17,735
|
$1,956
|
8.7 %
|
11.0 %
|
81.86
|
|
7
|
Chaves, NM
|
$20,559
|
$16,490
|
$1,811
|
8.8 %
|
11.0 %
|
81.73
|
|
8
|
Lincoln, NM
|
$25,756
|
$43,242
|
$3,062
|
11.9 %
|
7.1 %
|
81.31
|
|
9
|
Rio Arriba, NM
|
$19,678
|
$20,776
|
$2,078
|
10.6 %
|
10.0 %
|
79.61
|
|
10
|
Sandoval, NM
|
$26,742
|
$37,766
|
$3,205
|
12.0 %
|
8.5 %
|
78.99
|
For more information on the study, including the methodology and interactive map, check here.