- For the third consecutive year, residents of Cupertino rank No. 1 in the U.S. for money-management skills.
- Five other Silicon Valley communities rank in the top 10 in the country for financial savvy: Los Altos, Saratoga, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View.
- Among cities with more than 300,000 residents, San Franciscans have the nation’s best money-management skills.
Home prices in Silicon Valley soared in the fourth quarter of last year, but some local buyers are quite able to keep up with the appreciation, as they once again boast the best money-management skills in the country.
An annual report from WalletHub ranks nearly 2,600 large, midsize, and small American cities on a 100-point scale for money-management skills. The company uses 10 metrics related to debt and financial habits to arrive at its rankings, including various debt-to-income ratios, median credit scores, and average number of late payments
As in both the 2016 and 2017 lists, Cupertino residents take top honors this year for their money-management prowess, with a total score of 99. The Santa Clara County city ties four others in Silicon Valley for the lowest credit-card-debt-to-income ratio and also ranks in the top five for lowest average late payments, at 0.56.
Los Altos also held its ranking from last year’s analysis, placing in the No. 2 position and notching a 99. Los Altos ranks in the top five for both lowest credit-card-debt-to-income ratio and lowest car-loan-debt-to-income ratio, and residents there have the fewest average number of late payments in America — 0.31.
Four other Silicon Valley cities count among the nation’s 10 most financially responsible, all with scores of 99: Saratoga (No. 3), Palo Alto (No. 6), Sunnyvale (No. 7), and Mountain View (No. 10). Saratoga residents have one of the highest average credit scores in the country, at 780, and rank in the top five for the lowest credit card, car loan, and student debt compared with income.
It’s worth noting that 38 American cities that WalletHub analyzed score a 99 for money-management skills. Other Bay Area communities to earn that distinction: Foster City (No. 11), Santa Clara (No. 25), Mill Valley (No. 28), Menlo Park (No. 31), Los Gatos (No. 33), and Belmont (No. 36).
Although San Francisco scored a 97 overall, it barely cracked the top 100 in the study’s overall rankings. However, the City by the Bay earns the No. 1 spot for money-management know-how among large cities, defined as those with populations of more than 300,000. Similarly, San Jose did not appear on the main list until No. 292 but comes in third when the cities are diced by population size.
(Photo: iStock/Drazen_)