INLAND EMPIRE – (INT) – Consumers in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metro area could learn a lot about credit from folks in Mankato, Minnesota.

Experian’s 2016 State of Credit puts the two areas at opposite ends of credit behavior.

For example, Mankato earned the highest national ranking with an average credit score of 708 compared to 632 for the Inland Empire, the fourth lowest in the US but an improvement from 624 in 2015.

The only other California area among the top 10 lowest was Bakersfield at 639.

The study ranked US cities by credit score and revealed which are the best and the worst at managing their credit. It also took a glimpse at how each generation is faring.

Among five generations examined, the ‘Silent Generation’ or those born before 1945, scored the lowest in the number of credit cards and late payments and in retail and mortgage debt.

Baby Boomers had the greatest average debt.

Story Date: January 25, 2017