California Tops Cities With the Highest and Lowest Credit Card Debts – WalletHub Study
With U.S. credit card debt totaling $1.35 trillion and projected to increase by another $100 billion this year, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the Cities With the Highest & Lowest Credit Card Debts in 2026, to see where people are at the most risk of credit score damage or excessive interest.
WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest cities in the U.S. based on the latest data on consumers’ finances from TransUnion and the Federal Reserve, adjusted for inflation. Below, you can find a handful of highlights from the report.
| Highest Household Credit Card Debt | Lowest Household Credit Card Debt |
| 1. Santa Clarita, CA | 173. Akron, OH |
| 2. Chula Vista, CA | 174. Rochester, NY |
| 3. Pearl City, HI | 175. Des Moines, IA |
| 4. New York, NY | 176. Fort Wayne, IN |
| 5. Rancho Cucamonga, CA | 177. Milwaukee, WI |
| 6. Gilbert, AZ | 178. Cleveland, OH |
| 7. Fontana, CA | 179. Toledo, OH |
| 8. Oxnard, CA | 180. Cedar Rapids, IA |
| 9. Moreno Valley, CA | 181. Madison, WI |
| 10. Santa Ana, CA | 182. Lewiston, ME |
To see the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/
“Cities where households owe the most credit card debt, like Santa Clarita and Chula Vista, CA, as well as Pearl City, HI have high median incomes, high debt payoff rates and low delinquency rates; this indicates that residents may simply have high credit card limits and can afford to borrow more.”
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“Santa Clarita, CA, is the city with the highest average household credit card debt, at $23,714. That adds up to a total of nearly $1.8 billion for all of the city’s residents collectively. However, since Santa Clarita has a much higher median income than the national average, it’s likely that people simply have big credit card limits and can afford to spend a lot.”
– John Kiernan, WalletHub Editor
