Which US cities have reached the top 100 best cities in the world?
Real estate and tourism consulting firm Resonance Consultancy has released a report ranking the top 100 best cities in the world.
A group of Midwest cities, including Des Moines, Iowa, Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, ranks the country as the most “financially responsible” according to a new report.
Minneapolis has a very low consumer share with its largest credit card. The Maddsonian uses a brilliantly low quotient of available credits. Des Moines residents don’t spend much of their income on housing.
Personal finance site Lendingtree ranks the 100 largest metropolitan areas on five metrics of financial health, focusing on the ideals of living within one’s own means. The July 7 report is drawn from Federal Reserve and Census data and a sample of 260,000 anonymized lending tree users.
Here are 10 most “economically responsible” cities
According to Lendingtree, these are the 10 most economically responsible cities in America.
- Monk
- (Tie) San Jose, California
- Madison
- Minneapolis
- Pittsburgh
- Durham, North Carolina
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- (Tie) Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Syracuse, New York
- Akron, Ohio
Several other Midwest cities rank among the top 20 financial responsibilities of lending tree, including Kansas City, Missouri (13), Cincinnati (14), Columbus, Ohio (18), and St. Louis (20). Other financially healthy metros include Knoxville, Tennessee (12th on the list), South, and Rochester, New York (16), Northeast.
According to analysts at Lendingtree, cities near the top of the ranking tend to have solid household incomes and reasonable cost of living. These qualities are closely related with good trust.
“Most of this overall report comes down to income and credit scores,” said Matt Schultz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree. “For example, income doesn’t lead to the ability to get a credit card, but once you get a card, it plays a big role in setting the amount of credit limit.”
Five cities where consumers live within their own means
Here is a snapshot of the Top 5 Metros for Financial Health:
- Monk Score well across all five metrics. They spend more than 35% of their income on housing, for example, the fourth-lowest rate in 100 big cities.
- San Jose It is linked to two other cities due to its lowest debt income ratio of 51%. The city also has the highest share of consumers using less than 30% of the available credits.
- Madison Credit cardholders have the lowest share, with 16% using the largest card.
- Minneapolis The second lowest in the large metro with cardholder share using the largest card.
- Pittsburgh It is the third lowest share of households spending more than 35% of housing income.
If the most “financially responsible” metros have something in common except geography, it could be a cost of living. Some of the nation’s most infamous and expensive cities, including New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle, are even more sitting under the list. (San Jose is a notable exception.)
“There’s not much to replace low cost of living,” Schultz said. “It affects everything you do financially.”
5 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
Three of the five metrics in the Lendingtree analysis are credit-related. The biggest cards and excessive credit checks tend to hurt consumer credit scores. A low credit score will result in a higher loan interest rate and a lower credit card limit.
Here are five expert tips to help you build a better credit score.
Pay your bills on time
The biggest factor for a FICO credit score of 35% is your payment history. That means paying your bill on time, very simply.
That means “don’t miss out on your payments, especially more than 30 days.” “All the hard work you’ve done can be reversed by missing one payment.”
Credit cards, mortgages, rent, utilities: If it takes a long time for a creditor to report it, it could appear as delinquent on almost any credit report.
Try paying on time, Lasner said. If you missed your payment, please correct your monitoring immediately.
Don’t use too many credits
The second biggest factor in credit reports, which accounts for 30%, is payment amount. The metric refers to credit usage. How many credits are actually available.
The goal is to avoid using available credits whenever possible. Having a higher credit limit and having more credit cards can help keep your credits low if you use your credit carefully.
If possible, I’ll pay off my card every month, experts say. Please avoid using too much credits available.
“I think the best practice here is to try and keep your utilization below 30%,” says Joel O’Leary, personal finance writer at Motley Fool Money, to USA Today in June. “But I think sweet spots are 10%, or less than 10%.”
Build your credit history
The length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your credit score. This metric is all time. The duration of your credit account being open, average age, and frequency of use.
Experts say it’s wise to leave your old Zero Balance credit card account open, especially if you don’t have an annual fee. Keeping them active will increase your credits available and document your credit history.
Monitor your credit report
Research by consumer reports and work money from consumer groups shows that almost half of all credit reports may contain errors. Some errors can lower your credit score.
Experts say consumers should check their credit reports at least once a year. You can access reports for free on the website AnnualCredItreport.com.
If you find an error, please report it to your credit department. If the error is on a specific account, you can also contact the company directly.
Beware of “hard” credit inquiries
Every time you apply for a new credit and a creditor draws the file, it can affect your credit score. According to Experian, these are called “hard surveys” and can affect your score for 12 months.
Among other scenarios, applying for a credit card, car loan, or mortgage usually results in harsh inquiries. Takeout: Be aware that it triggers too many credit checks.
