Texans are paying through the nose on auto loans, new study reveals

HOUSTON – A new study from credit bureau Experian shows the top 25 cities in the United States where consumers carry the highest auto loan debt, and 24 of those cities are in Texas.

Montgomery is No. 4 on the list where people owe an average of $29,696 on their auto loan. The city of Magnolia is number five on the list. 

Midland and Odessa are ranked first and second place for highest car loan debt. Michigan cities carry the lowest average auto loan balances. 

Experian also found cities with high auto debt have below-average credit scores. Most of the 25 cities with the highest auto debt had average FICO® scores that were below the national average, according to Experian data from Q2 2019. Only eight cities had FICO® scores that were above the national average of 703, while the other 17 cities had scores that were below. Montgomery’s average FICO score is above the average at 719. Magnolia is just below average at 699.

In the cities with the least amount of auto debt, a reverse trend in FICO® scores appeared: Only eight of the 25 cities had average scores that were below the national average. The other 17 cities had average scores that were above 703. Troy, Michigan, had the highest average FICO® score of 750 -- a total of 47 points higher than the national average.

To find out the average FICO score in your city and if you made the list of the highest average auto loans, go to Experian.com.


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