A personal finance company has ranked Ocala among the bottom quarter of cities in the United States for “money management skills,” suggesting residents have lower credit scores and higher debt-to-income ratios than the rest of the country.
On February 28, WalletHub published its report on “Cities Where People Have the Best Money Management Skills,” analyzing approximately 2,547 cities across 10 key metrics.
Those metrics include things like median credit score, average number of late payments, foreclosure rates, and a variety of debt-to-income ratios: Credit card, mortgage, car loan, and student loan.
Large, medium, and small cities were included in the study. The cities range in population from a few thousand to several million.
According to the report, Ocala ranks 1,999 on the list, which puts it in the 22nd percentile, or the bottom quarter of the 2,547 cities included in the study.
The report shows that the median credit score among residents in Ocala is 704, the mortgage debt-to-income ratio is over 338%, and the average number of late payments is over 4. The report also notes that both car loans and student loans have a similar debt-to-income ratio of well above 40%.
To calculate debt-to-income ratios, the company divided the median debt type (i.e., mortgage, credit card, car loan, student loan) by the median income per household.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the median household income in Ocala was $50,618 in 2022. The bureau reports that there are over 18,000 incorporated cities and towns across the country, with the vast majority containing fewer than 5,000 residents.
WalletHub says its metrics are based on data from ATTOM Data Solutions and TransUnion dating back to last October. The company says that each sample refers to the “city proper and excludes the surrounding metro area.”
For more information on the report, or to read the complete list of cities included, visit WalletHub’s Cities Where People Have the Best Money Management Skills website.