Denver ranks dead last for average metro credit scores
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Denver natives have the lowest average credit score among metro-area counties, new Census-linked data shows.
Why it matters: Credit scores can determine access to loans, housing, better interest rates and more — despite their flaws and biases.
Context: Data compiled by The Opportunity Atlas, a joint project from the U.S. Census Bureau and Opportunity Insights at Harvard University, is based on anonymized information from a major credit bureau.
- The data was used to map out the average credit score by county, with the U.S. average of 681.
Zoom in: Denver (671) was last among metro area counties, including Adams (674), Arapahoe (704), Boulder (714), Broomfield (704), Douglas (719) and Jefferson (707).
Caveat: The map shows average credit scores in 2020 by childhood county for people born 1978-1985, making them roughly aged 35-42 at the time of measurement.
- The result: a snapshot of people's credit scores based on where they grew up, not necessarily where they lived when the snapshot was taken.
Context: People who grew up in parts of the Upper Midwest and the Northeast tend to have relatively high credit scores in early middle-age, while those from the South tend to have lower scores.
Zoom out: People in the target age who grew up in Slope County, North Dakota (757) had the highest average score, while those in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana (593), had the lowest.