KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Santa Clarita has been ranked the second highest city in California for personal debt, according to a report released Tuesday.
LendingTree, an online loan marketplace, released a report this week detailing the accrued debt of all California cities with a population of at least 50,000.
Santa Clarita ranked the second highest in auto loan debt with an average of about $21,000, and second in the state for personal loan debt, excluding mortgages, with an average of just over $6,000.
“In general, personal debt — excluding mortgage debt — has been climbing, and in this most recent year especially,” said Scott Harries, a Santa Clarita investment advisor with over 30 years of experience. “Because of tax cuts and people likely anticipated having more money, and some people will save that, while others will buy that extra car or do home improvement.”
The data was gathered from an anonymized sample of over 500,000 users, and researchers calculated total debt balances from November 2018, December 2018 and January 2019 credit reports, according to the report.
“All of the data gathered was encrypted and had no personal information,” said Megan Greuling, director of communications for LendingTree.
These results were then aggregated to the California cities with a population of at least 50,000 to calculate median non-mortgage debt obligation.
| CA Cities with Highest Average Personal Loan Debt | |
| Yorba Linda | $12,227.78 |
| Santa Clarita | $6,031.22 |
| Temecula | $5,921.40 |
In the analysis, researchers also found the average distribution of debts across the following debt types: auto, credit cards, personal loans and student loans, according to LendingTree officials.
“California sees higher auto loan debt because cars are more of a necessity, versus New York City, for example, where those numbers are much lower,” Greuling said.
Local experts suggest that there are several possible reasons for the high ranking of Santa Clarita on the list, including travel requirements for work and student debt.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of young professionals and younger families are moving in, and most of them have more than one income,” said Harries. “And if they are educated through either college or graduate school or trade school, they likely have student debt.”
Nationally, student loan debt surpassed $1.5 trillion, while consumer debt measures up to over $4 trillion nationally, according to Harries.
| CA Cities with Highest Average Auto Loan Debt | |
| Yorba Linda | $25,615.38 |
| Santa Clarita | $21,671.52 |
| Temecula | $18,753.38 |
Nearly 85 percent of California workers drive to work, and 76 percent of workers drive to work alone — only 2.6 percent Californians rely on public transportation to get to and from work. All of that economic logic leads to the auto loans being the largest single credit line for the average resident in 84 percent of California cities, according to officials.
“Santa Clarita is still a bedroom community and many people have to travel to downtown or to the valley to work,” said Harries. “The offset is that people are traveling, and those young professionals who have to take on debt are moving along with the national average.”
Harries noted that the economy, in general, is not experiencing a significant amount of inflation at the moment; however, automobile sales are currently inflated. These factors, along with inflation in tuition, are the main three reasons driving debt higher, according to Harries.
When asked about his suggestions for managing debt, Harries offered a few tips to the community.
“It’s all about what is the cost of your capital, so if you are carrying that cost on a credit card, pay that down because it’s 17, 18, or 20 percent interest,” said Harries. “Even if you invest, you’ll make more money paying off that credit card debt.”
Harries also suggesting practicing self-discipline when possible by setting certain limits to the amount of debt allowed to accrue, and once those limits have been reached, sticking to those limits to try and avoid taking on more debt.
For the full California debt study, visit the LendingTree website here.
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Sounds about right since some people in SCV live well above their paychecks. I would have figured the dollar amount would be a lot higher for debt. Some people here are so worried about fitting in or putting on a show that they are rich but in fact their renting a house or leasing a fancy car they can barely afford and having zero assets , but hey you can always find them out at happy hr everyday or eating at all the fancy restaurants. How do they afford it ???? Well lets just throw it on the credit card and make the minimum payment each month.
Wow.. you said everything I wanted to say. Let me add that I have a service business out here and the large majority of people who call are looking for the cheapest but best service in the biz. Even though I pulled up to a $750 k home with 250k in cars in the driveway
“Because of tax cuts and people likely anticipated having more money…;” translation the president you voted for because you thought he gave a hoot for you gave *your* tax cut to people richer than you who get the loopholes. “…debt types: auto (in California we have virtually NO mass transit thanks to voters who can’t see the forest for the trees), credit cards, personal loans (at usurious rates thanks to the end of Dodd-Frank) and student loans (likewise at unreasonable rates). The federal government could bring back Dodd-Frank, enforce Article I of the Constitution, get out of the loan shark business and use tax money from gasoline purchases for rapid transit. Oh yeah… How about decent paying jobs.
Trust me the last president did nothing for middle class. By the way, California is going down the tubes thanks to all those clowns in Sacramento. Aka democrats. Then one’s over spending and more worried about criminals, illegals and over taxing. Trump 2020!!!
How about not blaming the president, who does care a whole lot more than Obama ever did and putting the blame right where it belongs! On the individuals who made the decisions to spend the money irresponsibly! You can’t assume things and go out and make decisions, it’s the individuals fault for not waiting to see what they actually get back in taxes. Knock off all this politics of envy against the rich etc…and take responsibility.
Lol. Trump cares a lot more than Obama..about himself. Keep drinking the Koolaid. Worst President in U.S.history.
Idiot – nothing you said makes any sense. This has nothing to do with who the President is. Learn to live within your means and don’t rely on the government to bail you out.
Pamela, What article are you speaking about? How is it that Trump gets blamed for everything. My 401k has kicked ass since he’s been in office and my paychecks have only gone up .I cant say the same about Obama. This article is about people not living within their means.
As a current Valencia resident who is renting, I can say that I most likely have added to that statistic. lol Last year, my husband and I purchased a new truck which put us in an auto loan debt of about $40K. But I had a 16 year old truck that was giving me issues so I needed a new vehicle. However, we don’t have any credit card debt or personal loan debts so that is why we were able to afford the car payments. My husband owns his vehicle and we both drive less than 10 miles to work.
So I wonder if those statistics take into consideration that the same people who have credit card or personal loan debts, probably don’t have auto loan debts, or vise versa like my situation.
We must reject the idea that every time an individual makes a poor life choice , it is society’s or the governments fault. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for their own actions. R. Reagan
Medical debt can drive up the dollars really quickly. Chemo copay in six weeks $3600. This year chemo co pay $3,300. Credit card numbers were given to the health companies. I told them when they are declined I am
Out of money. No money no chemo.
Trump fault
Thank You Kanye! Very Cool!