Worse than other US areas. "Obvious" demographic reasons don't hold up. The likely culprit was a surprise to me: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/02/17/bad-southern-credit-scores/
That's good stuff, jimbo.
Here is a non gated version of the story.
https://worldnewsera.com/news/entrepreneurs/analysis-why-does-the-south-have-such-ugly-credit-scores/ (https://worldnewsera.com/news/entrepreneurs/analysis-why-does-the-south-have-such-ugly-credit-scores/)
The top picture is complete here, and hits you in the face.
In addition to being a decent news story, the link contains further links to real papers.
The conclusion of the story, which I will not divulge either, is surely endogenous, depending on race, some have said, or poverty, I would say, or both.
And southern states tend to be Republican, lower medicaid rates, higher rates of poor health, lack of access to medical care. Sad.
FICO scores are a joke. I paid off my car loan and I lost 40 points due to the fact that it looks better if I have a mix of different kids of loans. I was punished for making a financially wise decision which saved me money on insurance after I raised my deductible. I also dropped down 90 points right after I bought the car. You can't win with these people.
Quote from: Anselm on February 22, 2023, 12:41:23 PM
FICO scores are a joke. I paid off my car loan and I lost 40 points due to the fact that it looks better if I have a mix of different kids of loans. I was punished for making a financially wise decision which saved me money on insurance after I raised my deductible. I also dropped down 90 points right after I bought the car. You can't win with these people.
Agreed.
I have no debts. Not even a mortgage. Everything has been paid off for a long time. During this time, my FICO score went down.
Do I care? No. I don't even know what my FICO score is anymore. I don't borrow money. Fvck FICO.
Quote
excerpt from the article
rewards programs such as American Express Gold effectively siphon billions of dollars a year from lower-income counties, many of them in the South, and transfer the cash to well-heeled enclaves loaded with professionals who tend to take advantage of such programs.
Now, I know who is paying for my credit card rewards. I knew it was people who carried a credit card balance from month to month, but I never knew it was people concentrated in a specific region.
Quote from: nebo113 on February 22, 2023, 06:51:06 AM
And southern states tend to be Republican, lower medicaid rates, higher rates of poor health, lack of access to medical care. Sad.
I always kind of felt a little guilty for getting travel rewards for someone else's misfortune and/or bad life choices. I pay for EVERYTHING on two credit cards, and I pay off the entire balance every month. For this, I reap really nice credit card rewards. Rather than feeling guilty, I now get a sense of satisfaction from knowing that Trump country & their bad state politicians who refused to expand Medicare and Trump voters & their bad choices of said politicians and probably their own personal choices are the majority of folks who are paying for my expensive vacations.
That region is what those of us in health care refer to as "The Stroke Belt". The redder your state, the worse pretty much any outcome is.
Health care is a major problem all over the world, but especially in the US. Often it seems totally intractable in the US. It's nice to see that some public policy actually makes a difference for some states.
Some southern states did opt to expand Medicaid, so while that's undoubtedly a part of the explanation, it may not be the whole story.
FICO? They plead with me to spend more, more. Checking my wallet. Where's the credit card? Oh, behind the Starbuck's one, caffeine-sticky.