(FOX 5/KUSI) — A recent study conducted by WalletHub analyzed cities throughout the United States to determine which have the highest amount of credit card debt per household, and several Southern California locations ranked atop the list, including a city located in San Diego County.
The June study reviewed more than 180 cities, using the latest data from TransUnion and the Federal Reserve to identify where households carry the most and least credit card debt.
Seven cities from the Golden State ranked in the top of the list, all in Southern California, while cities from Hawaii and New York rounded out the top 10.
Santa Clarita, California, located just northwest of Los Angeles, ranks highest on WalletHub’s list of cities with the most credit card debt per household. The average household in Santa Clarita reportedly owes $23,714, totaling nearly $1.8 billion for all residents.
The study, however, also concluded that Santa Clarita has a much higher median household income than the U.S. average, at $123,011, suggesting people may have higher credit limits because they can afford to spend more.
“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,” WalletHub analyst John Kiernan said.
Chula Vista, California, located in the South Bay area of San Diego County, ranks second on the list with $20,778 of credit card debt per household. Like Santa Clarita, Chula Vista is considered a wealthy city that can manage high spending.
The five other California cities that ranked in the top 10 include Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Oxnard, Moreno Valley and Santa Ana, which averaged credit card debt per household in the $19,000 range.
San Diego ranked 35th on the list, with an average credit card debt of $16,429 per household, totaling $8,714,008,148. Meanwhile, Oceanside ranked 18th with an average credit card debt of $17,787 per household.
To conduct the study, WalletHub compared 182 of the largest cities in the U.S., including the 150 most populous, plus at least two of the most populous cities in each state. The complete list is available on WalletHub’s website.
WalletHub is a personal finance platform focused on credit monitoring and financial planning.