RateZip Data · Credit Geography
The worst-credit cities in America, ranked by mortgage shoppers
In Youngstown, OH, 67.1% of people shopping for a mortgage report fair or poor credit - in New Canaan, CT, it's 1.1%. That 61× spread is the widest lens we know of on America's credit geography, measured not from bureau averages of everyone, but from the people actively trying to borrow.
The 25 worst-credit cities
| # | City | Subprime share (fair + poor) | Poor only | Excellent / very good |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youngstown, OH | 67.1% | 33.7% | 7.2% |
| 2 | Canton, OH | 64.2% | 26.7% | 14.3% |
| 3 | Decatur, IL | 63.6% | 25.5% | 14.1% |
| 4 | Sumter, SC | 62.6% | 21.7% | 16.4% |
| 5 | Toledo, OH | 62.6% | 27.5% | 10.3% |
| 6 | Evansville, IN | 61.8% | 26.7% | 9.9% |
| 7 | South Bend, IN | 59.1% | 29.4% | 11.5% |
| 8 | Fort Wayne, IN | 58.8% | 25.9% | 11.6% |
| 9 | Gastonia, NC | 57.8% | 25.1% | 19.4% |
| 10 | Dayton, OH | 57.7% | 24.8% | 16.5% |
| 11 | Dothan, AL | 55.7% | 24.4% | 17.2% |
| 12 | Cleveland, OH | 55.6% | 25.1% | 16.6% |
| 13 | Akron, OH | 54.8% | 26.1% | 15% |
| 14 | Anderson, SC | 54.7% | 25.3% | 22.1% |
| 15 | Florence, SC | 54.4% | 20% | 14.9% |
| 16 | Milwaukee, WI | 52.9% | 21.6% | 17.9% |
| 17 | Spartanburg, SC | 52.5% | 27% | 18.3% |
| 18 | Montgomery, AL | 52.1% | 20.5% | 18.8% |
| 19 | Fayetteville, NC | 51.5% | 18.2% | 15% |
| 20 | Kingsport, TN | 51.1% | 23.1% | 21.9% |
| 21 | Mobile, AL | 51.1% | 22.4% | 20.5% |
| 22 | Indianapolis, IN | 50.8% | 20.9% | 16.5% |
| 23 | Battle Creek, MI | 50.7% | 23.9% | 24.3% |
| 24 | Greenville, NC | 50.7% | 22.1% | 18.3% |
| 25 | Jackson, MI | 50.2% | 18.3% | 24.6% |
And the best-credit cities, for contrast
| # | City | Subprime share | Excellent / very good |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Canaan, CT | 1.1% | 92% |
| 2 | San Ramon, CA | 2.2% | 85.6% |
| 3 | Redmond, WA | 3% | 89.7% |
| 4 | Beverly Hills, CA | 3.5% | 82.7% |
| 5 | Fremont, CA | 4% | 81.5% |
| 6 | Bellevue, WA | 5.1% | 84.3% |
| 7 | Bothell, WA | 5.9% | 83.4% |
| 8 | Irvine, CA | 6% | 80.6% |
| 9 | Sunnyvale, CA | 6.1% | 77.6% |
| 10 | Glendale, CA | 6.2% | 77% |
Questions this data answers
Which US city has the worst credit?
Among people actively shopping for a mortgage, Youngstown, OH ranks worst: 67.1% of its mortgage inquirers self-report fair or poor credit, and only 7.2% report excellent or very good credit. Legacy-industrial Midwest metros dominate the list.
How is this different from average-credit-score rankings?
Bureau-based studies average the credit score of everyone in a city, including people with no borrowing intent. This ranking measures the credit profile of active mortgage shoppers - the demand that lenders actually see. A city can have a middling average score but a heavily subprime shopper pool, and that difference is what shapes local mortgage markets.
Where does the data come from?
Self-reported credit tiers from consumer mortgage inquiries submitted to RateZip since January 2019, aggregated by city. Cities with fewer than 400 inquiries are excluded (436 cities qualify); only percentages are published. Self-reported tiers skew slightly optimistic versus actual scores, which makes the subprime shares here conservative floors.
Self-reported credit tier among RateZip mortgage inquirers, January 2019 to present; cities under 400 inquiries excluded; shares only.Data updates nightly. Shares describe RateZip's inquiry flow, not the general population. Cite as: "RateZip Worst Credit Cities" with a link to this page.