Report: These cities are taking on more debt during the pandemic | The Numbers Racket

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on nearly every aspect of daily life, including debt, employment, business and more. 

A recent study from WalletHub, a personal finance website, found that the ongoing pandemic has caused many people to go beyond their means to pay their bills and purchase necessities, racking up swaths of debt in the process. 

WalletHub also found that residents of certain cities across the country fared better than others when it came to taking on debt. 

Let’s take a look. 

Methodology

Taking into account factors such as credit card debt increases, auto loan debt increases, mortgage debt increases and average credit card utilization increases from Q3 to Q4, WalletHub was about to rank cities across the country by the debt they are taking on. 

Top 10 cities taking on the most debt

1. Winston-Salem, N.C.
2. Baton Rouge, La. 
3. Corpus Christi, Tx.
4. San Bernardino, Calif. 
5. Glendale, Ariz. 
6. Orlando, Fla. 
7. San Francisco, Calif.
8. Garland, Tx. 
9. Jersey City, N.J. 
10. Oklahoma City, Okla. 

Top 10 cities taking on the least amount of debt

91. Stockton, Calif
92. Boston, Mass. 
93. Fresno, Calif. 
94. San Jose, Calif. 
95. Hialeah, Fla. 
96. Minneapolis, Minn. 
97. Mesa, Ariz. 
98. Portland, Ore. 
99. Spokane, Wash. 
100. Scottsdale, Ariz. 

How did Pa. cities fare? 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city, ranked 80th for cities taking on the most debt. 

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh ranked 68th for cities taking on the most debt. 

Pittsburgh also landed in a five-way tie with New Orleans, Garland, Las Vegas and Mesa for the city with the lowest auto loan debt increase in Q4 vs. Q3. 

Des Moines had the highest auto loan debt increase followed by San Francisco and Santa Ana, Calif.