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- The cities with the highest percentage of people behind on a debt payment are all in the southern United States.
- This is according to a recent analysis from online lending marketplace LendingTree.
- McAllen, Texas, has the largest percentage of residents who are late on a debt payment out of the country’s 100 biggest metro areas.
Americans who live in southern cities are more likely to struggle to make on-time payments to their credit cards, cars, mortgages and student loans, according to a recent analysis.
The LendingTree analysis found that out of the country’s 100 largest metro areas, those with the most residents behind on a debt payment were all located in the southern United States.
McAllen, Texas, and El Paso, Texas, have the two largest populations of Americans who are late on at least one debt payment — a group that makes up 51.7 percent and 46.3 percent of the cities’ total populations, respectively.
Baton Rouge, La., is third on the list with 45 percent of its residents behind on at least one account payment, according to the analysis.
Those three cities also have the highest number of residents that are seriously delinquent on their debts — or at least three payments behind.
Here are the cities where the largest share of people are behind by at least one payment.
- McAllen, Texas — 51.7 percent
- El Paso, Texas — 46.3 percent
- Baton Rouge, La. — 45 percent
- Greensboro, N.C. — 44.8 percent
- Columbia, S.C. — 44.6 percent
- Jackson, Miss. — 44 percent
- San Antonio, Texas — 43.8 percent
- Augusta, Ga. — 43.3 percent
- Greenville, S.C. — 42.6 percent
- Memphis, Tenn. — 42.5
LendingTree used credit reports of about 310,000 users from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, in the 100 largest metro areas for the analysis.
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