Santa Clarita has been ranked the second highest city in California for personal debt, according to a report released Tuesday.

LendingTree, an online loan marketplace, released a report this week detailing the accrued debt of all California cities with a population of at least 50,000.

Santa Clarita ranked the second highest in auto loan debt with an average of about $21,000, and second in the state for personal loan debt, excluding mortgages, with an average of just over $6,000.

“In general, personal debt — excluding mortgage debt — has been climbing, and in this most recent year especially,” said Scott Harries, a Santa Clarita investment advisor with over 30 years of experience. “Because of tax cuts and people likely anticipated having more money, and some people will save that, while others will buy that extra car or do home improvement.”

The data was gathered from an anonymized sample of over 500,000 users, and researchers calculated total debt balances from November 2018, December 2018 and January 2019 credit reports, according to the report.

“All of the data gathered was encrypted and had no personal information,” said Megan Greuling, director of communications for LendingTree.

These results were then aggregated to the California cities with a population of at least 50,000 to calculate median non-mortgage debt obligation.

CA Cities with Highest Average Personal Loan Debt Yorba Linda $12,227.78 Santa Clarita $6,031.22 Temecula $5,921.40

In the analysis, researchers also found the average distribution of debts across the following debt types: auto, credit cards, personal loans and student loans, according to LendingTree officials.

“California sees higher auto loan debt because cars are more of a necessity, versus New York City, for example, where those numbers are much lower,” Greuling said.

Local experts suggest that there are several possible reasons for the high ranking of Santa Clarita on the list, including travel requirements for work and student debt.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of young professionals and younger families are moving in, and most of them have more than one income,” said Harries. “And if they are educated through either college or graduate school or trade school, they likely have student debt.”

Nationally, student loan debt surpassed $1.5 trillion, while consumer debt measures up to over $4 trillion nationally, according to Harries.

CA Cities with Highest Average Auto Loan Debt Yorba Linda $25,615.38 Santa Clarita $21,671.52 Temecula $18,753.38

Nearly 85 percent of California workers drive to work, and 76 percent of workers drive to work alone — only 2.6 percent Californians rely on public transportation to get to and from work. All of that economic logic leads to the auto loans being the largest single credit line for the average resident in 84 percent of California cities, according to officials.

“Santa Clarita is still a bedroom community and many people have to travel to downtown or to the valley to work,” said Harries. “The offset is that people are traveling, and those young professionals who have to take on debt are moving along with the national average.”

Harries noted that the economy, in general, is not experiencing a significant amount of inflation at the moment; however, automobile sales are currently inflated. These factors, along with inflation in tuition, are the main three reasons driving debt higher, according to Harries.

When asked about his suggestions for managing debt, Harries offered a few tips to the community.

“It’s all about what is the cost of your capital, so if you are carrying that cost on a credit card, pay that down because it’s 17, 18, or 20 percent interest,” said Harries. “Even if you invest, you’ll make more money paying off that credit card debt.”

Harries also suggesting practicing self-discipline when possible by setting certain limits to the amount of debt allowed to accrue, and once those limits have been reached, sticking to those limits to try and avoid taking on more debt.

For the full California debt study, visit the LendingTree website here.

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