Las Vegas credit scores improve enough to climb out of bottom 10 US cities

Economic progress can show up in odd ways — like escaping the basement in a national credit score analysis.

So it was for Las Vegas, which credit data company Experian recently said improved its year-to-year average credit score to climb out of the bottom 10 U.S. cities in the annual State of Credit report.

By using consumer credit data to compare more than 200 U.S. cities by VantageScore, a credit rating, State of Credit aimed to show which locales are best and worst at managing credit. Nationally, average credit scores are rising, Experian said, hitting 669 this year, up from 673 a year earlier. This year’s average score is just six points away from 2007’s prehousing-crash score of 679.

VantageScores range from 300 to 850, like the more well-known FICO score. The higher the score, the better.

“This is a promising sign as the economy continues to rebound,” Experian said in a statement accompanying the results.

Las Vegas climbed 10 spots from its 2015 rank to 193rd nationally, Experian said, as the city’s residents raised their average credit score from 636 to 645. Also, Experian said, the percentage of delinquencies, or missed payments, in Las Vegas fell from 49 percent to 45 percent and revolving credit use, think credit cards, stayed steady at 34 percent.

Furthermore, Experian said, Las Vegas increased average debt and balances in the mortgage, retail and credit card categories.

Mankato, Minnesota, ranked first in Experian’s study, with an average credit score of 708. Greenwood, Mississippi, ranked last with an average credit score of 622.

“We are seeing the positive effects of economic recovery, with the rise in income and low unemployment reflected in how Americans are managing their credit,” said Michele Raneri, Experian’s vice president of analytics and new business development. “All credit indicators suggest consumers are not as ‘credit stressed.’ Credit card balances and average debt are up, while utilization rates remained consistent at 30 percent.”

Consumers in the “silent generation,” ages 70 and older, had the highest average credit score, 730, followed by baby boomers, ages 50 to 69, at 700; Generation X, ages 35 to 49, at 655; Generation Y, ages 21 to 34, 634; and Gen Z, ages 20 and younger, 631.

Visit http://bit.ly/2gq95iv to see the full study.

Contact Matthew Crowley a mcrowley@reviewjournal.com. Follow @copyjockey on Twitter.