Residents in these cities are most likely to pay bills on time

Ninety-five percent of borrowers in 100 cities are paying dues on time, according to a newly released report from online lending exchange business LendingTree, but in some areas, Americans are more prompt with payments than others.

The LendingTree study analyzed data in TransUnion-based credit reports from the first quarter, using a sample of more than 9 million people living in the 100 largest metro areas.

It showed that Americans in the western part of the country were more likely to pay their bills on time, while residents of Provo, Utah, were the top of the list when it came to prompt payers. In that city, only 5.97% of people had at least one delinquent account on their credit report in the first quarter, while the average number of 90-day late payments in a person’s history was 2.4.

In San Francisco, only slightly more than 6% of residents had at least one delinquent account, according to LendingTree’s analysis, the second-lowest amount on the list. In that metropolitan area, 96.5% of people were current on their bills as of the first quarter.

Another California city, Sacramento, ranked third among places where residents pay on time. In that city, 6.16% of people were found to have had a delinquent account. Seattle assumed the fourth spot.

The cities that round out the top 10 include Spokane, Washington; Portland; San Jose, California; Milwaukee; Los Angeles and Phoenix.

On the other hand, residents in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, were least likely to pay their bills on time. More than 9.5% of residents had at least one delinquent account on their credit report in the first quarter, while 94.3% of residents in the city are current on their bills.

Following Winston-Salem, Scranton, Pennsylvania, was next highest on the list of places where residents were least likely to pay their bills punctually. New Haven, Connecticut, tied Augusta, Georgia, for third place on that ranking, with 9.4% of residents in each city having at least one delinquent account.

Little Rock, Arkansas; Jackson, Mississippi; Worcester, Massachusetts; Columbia, South Carolina; Albany, New York and Youngstown, Pennsylvania, completed the list of the top 10 metropolitan areas where LendingTree found residents were least likely to pay their bills on time.

The study also showed that, on average, people have about six late payments on their credit report.