--- title: These 10 Cities Have the Best Credit Scores in the U.S. description: What part of the country has the best credit scores? Here's a ranking of the cities and states with the highest FICO credit scores in 2021. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Credit - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true published: '2021-11-16T20:06:41.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:17:03.000Z' section: Credit tags: - Credit Scores - Guides word_count: 450 canonical: https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Aerial view of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco](https://img.money.com/2021/11/News-Cities-With-Best-Credit-Score.jpg) While credit scores hit a [record high](https://money.com/average-credit-score-record-high/) this year, new [data](https://www.fico.com/en/resource-access/download/38456) from FICO shows that some parts of the country have made outsized gains while others have fallen short of the trend. Every state saw its average credit score rise between April 2020 and April 2021. But states in the South and West (including Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada) saw the greatest increases over that period. At the city level, FICO found that metropolitan areas in Florida and California were more likely to see large increases this year, as were cities impacted by the 2008 financial crisis, like Las Vegas and Detroit. The average credit score in the United States in April 2021 was 716, up from around 686 in 2005. FICO found that states in New England and the upper Midwest have higher scores, on average. Compared to the entire country, the top 10 states with the highest FICO scores have a population with lower rates of delinquency, fewer people who are using more than 70% of their available credit and fewer people with three or more credit inquiries within the past year. ## How are credit scores used? [Credit scores](https://money.com/what-is-a-credit-score/) are used by lenders to determine creditworthiness for [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/), [personal loans](https://money.com/best-personal-loans/), [student loans](https://money.com/student-loans/), credit cards and more. The three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – calculate credit scores using data from your [credit report](https://money.com/how-to-read-your-credit-report/), which includes information about your history of timely payments, your total debt and other information about your credit history. The higher your score, the more likely a lender will view you as a reliable borrower and the more likely you are to receive [favorable loan terms](https://money.com/credit-score-not-buying-house/), like lower interest rates or lower premium payments. Timely credit card payments, timely bill payments and a low credit utilization rate (using just a small portion of your available credit) can [bolster your score](https://money.com/7-ways-to-improve-credit-score/), while late payments and using too much of your available credit can [lower it](https://money.com/why-did-my-credit-score-drop/). Scores range from 300 to 850. ## Cities and states with the highest credit scores Here are the states and cities leading the rankings this year. **States with the highest average credit scores:** - Minnesota: 742 - Vermont: 738 - Wisconsin: 736 - North Dakota: 736 - South Dakota: 735 - New Hampshire: 735 - Massachusetts: 735 - Washington: 734 - Nebraska: 733 - Hawaii: 733 **Metropolitan areas with the highest average credit scores:** - San Francisco Bay area: 746 - Minneapolis/St. Paul area: 743 - Boston area: 742 - Nassau-Suffolk, New York: 739 - Orange County, California: 736 - Pittsburgh area: 732 - Denver area: 731 - San Diego area: 729 - Washington, D.C., area: 729 - Chicago area: 725 ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Credit", "item": "https://money.com/credit/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Credit Score", "item": "https://money.com/credit-score/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "These 10 Cities Have the Best Credit Scores in the U.S." } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/", "name": "These 10 Cities Have the Best Credit Scores in the U.S.", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2021-11-16T20:06:41.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-credit-scores-states-cities-2021/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:17:03.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "These 10 Cities Have the Best Credit Scores in the U.S.", "articleSection": "Credit", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2021/11/News-Cities-With-Best-Credit-Score.jpg", "width": 1991, "height": 1327, "caption": "News-Cities-With-Best-Credit-Score" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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