States' Average Credit Scores: No One's Getting Instantly Approved

Speaking of Florida, a story in the Orlando Business Journal suggests that the average Floridian’s credit score dropped in the first quarter as their consumer debt rose.

Your run-of-the-mill Florida resident has a credit score of about 654. A year ago? That number was 657.

According to the website The Truth About Credit Cards: “Credit scores from 620-679 are still considered ‘good’ or ‘ok’ by many creditors, though you may see further restrictions and fewer approvals when attempting to get a auto loan/lease, credit card, or a mortgage. Scores at this level are fairly common, and no reason for alarm. But it would be wise to evaluate your credit score and work to improve it. In this range, it is quite probable that you aren’t securing the lowest interest rates, and subsequently losing money as a result.”

However, even the highest-ranked state — New Jersey — is only 681. That’ll get you a “good, but not great” ranking, and is only a couple points away from getting into the “We May Need to Talk About Kevin — and By Kevin I Mean Your Credit, and By Your Credit I Mean What Are You Doing to Yourself?”

Mississippi bottoms out the list at 623.

The rankings came from a company called CreditKarma.com, which offers consumers the chance to track their credit scores online. The site’s CEO, Ken Lin, said, “Consumers continue to pay down their credit card debt. But as the economy improves, it will be interesting to see if consumers can keep that commitment or if they revert back to their old habits.”

I think the answer’s in the question, Ken.