Study finds county has lowest credit card debt

Citizens of Auglaize County can be proud to say that they are in the county with the lowest collective credit card debt in the state of Ohio.

According to a study done by SmartAsset, Auglaize County is at the top of the list when it comes to paying off credit card debt, with a 94.01 on the debt index. Followed behind by the Seneca, Van Wert, Mercer and Darke counties, the numbers were close on this one as the percentages only differed by one percent.

The study was done nationwide to determine which places had the least amount of debt, as well as the likelihood of people being able to pay it off. This was done by calculating the ratio of the debt to the income of each county. They also did some research by determining the ration of debt to the net wealth of the area to give a broader idea on each county’s financial stability.

Auglaize County specifically debt as of percentage of income at eight percent, along with a percentage of wealth at 5.6 percent. This is comparable to Seneca County’s second place of nine percent and 7.1 percent respectively.

For anyone dealing with credit card debt, it is suggested to try and pay them off in a timely manner. With interest rates being a problem for some people, the best method is either to pay off the one with the lowest balance first, or to pay off the one with the highest interest rate. Otherwise known as the Snowball and Avalanche Methods respectively, this will hopefully diminish any debt you have, as well as make regular payments easier.

Paying off the debt will make sure to not only build up credit, but to keep the mental and physical toll of paying it off to a minimum.