Personal Finance News
Study: States Where Consumers Are Most Diligent About Credit
A new study sought to quantify which states have the most credit-diligent residents.
About the “Diligent With Credit” State Rankings:
The personal finance site WalletHub has released a new ranking of states meant to highlight consumers who stay on top of their credit. To do this, the site looked at several pieces of data — both positive and negative.
First, the study considered the percentage of consumers who have tradelines in collections as of the first quarter of 2026. This category was given double weight, while the percentage of consumers who have missed payments in Q1 2026, the percentage of consumers who have active bankruptcies as of the first quarter, and the percentage of consumers with foreclosures during that period were all given single weight. Meanwhile, the study also considered the percentage of consumers who had active freezes on their credit as of Q1. Lastly, it looked at the percentage of consumers who had filed credit disputes, with half-weight being assigned to those figures for both Q4 2025 and Q1 2026.
With that methodology, Vermont was found to have the most credit-diligent residents, with a total score of 82.99. Hawaii wasn’t far behind with a score of 82.89, and Alaska came in third with 81.46. Rounding out the top five were Massachusetts (76.94) and Iowa (76.64).
On the flip side, Louisiana landed in 50th with a score of just 23.67. Nearby Mississippi and Arkansas followed with 25.76 and 26.28, respectively. They were also joined by Alabama (31.10) and Kentucky (35.34) at the bottom of the list.
Looking more closely at negative factors, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Oklahoma had the highest percentage of consumers with tradelines in collections. In contrast, Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Iowa, and Washington had the lowest rates. Moreover, the percentage of consumer accounts in collections was double in the Pelican State when compared to the Green Mountain State.
As for the states with the highest percentage of frozen credit reports, Rhode Island was tops, followed by Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, and Massachusetts. In contrast, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Louisiana had the lowest percentage of consumers who take advantage of this savvy credit move.
What They’re Saying:
Commenting on the study, WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said, “Being diligent about your credit goes far beyond just making timely payments and only borrowing what you can afford to pay back, although those elements are important. True diligence also includes monitoring your credit reports regularly to make sure there are no inaccuracies and swiftly reporting anything that’s out of place,” adding, “Mistakes on your credit report can unfairly hurt your credit score.”
My Thoughts:
This is kind of a strange study to me, as the negative elements are directly related to financial matters, while the positives are more about actions consumers can take. Nevertheless, I think there are some interesting discoveries in this study. And, if nothing else, let this serve as a reminder that freezing your credit to prevent fraudulent accounts and filing credit disputes when you do find incorrect information are good activities to add to your personal finance audits.
Author
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