A perfect payment history on a student loan is a powerful thing. It could help you qualify for cosigner release with your private lender. Better yet, it could pave the way for student loan forgiveness via the federal government.
For many borrowers, however, making every single payment on time and in full can be difficult. Due to accruing interest, increasing payments and common snafus like a job loss, it’s not always possible to stay perfect.
But tell that to borrowers in the western U.S.
We analyzed which of 100 major metropolitan areas had the highest rates of resident borrowers with perfect payment histories — meaning they were never late on a single payment. We found that six of the top eight places represented Utah, California and Washington.
Below are our study’s full results.
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Methodology
Using a sample of anonymized credit reports from June through August 2018 taken from over 435,000 My LendingTree users with student loan debt, we calculated the percentage of people who have never had a payment status of 30 days or more late on any loan during the period covered by the reports (usually six years).
Loans in deferment or forbearance were included in this data, meaning that some borrowers wouldn’t have had a payment due for every month during the period under review. Our data isn’t limited to students — it also includes parents and others who borrowed on behalf of students.
For this list, we selected the cities with people who have never missed a payment at 80 percent or above.
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29. Virginia Beach, Virginia
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.0%
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29. Bridgeport, Connecticut
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.0%
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28. Providence, Rhode Island
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.0%
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27. Charleston, South Carolina
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.2%
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24. Omaha, Nebraska
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.3%
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24. Boise, Idaho
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.3%
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24. Sacramento, California
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.3%
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22. Hartford, Connecticut
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.4%
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22. Akron, Ohio
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.4%
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21. Bakersfield, California
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.5%
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18. Syracuse, New York
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.6%
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18. Washington, D.C.
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.6%
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18. Greenville, South Carolina
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.6%
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16. Boston
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.8%
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16. Austin, Texas
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.8%
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15. Buffalo, New York
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 80.9%
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13. Denver
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.0%
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13. Portland, Oregon
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.0%
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10. Allentown, Pennsylvania
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.1%
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10. Milwaukee
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.1%
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10. Worcester, Massachusetts
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.1%
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9. Rochester, New York
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.2%
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8. Seattle
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 81.8%
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6. San Diego
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 82.0%
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6. San Francisco
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 82.0%
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5. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 82.2%
Students in Pennsylvania carry the second-highest average student loan debt in the union, a whopping $36,854. Two-thirds of these students leave school with debt, according to TICAS.
Of course, it’s easier to repay your debt when you have a degree that helps you land a salaried position. Pennsylvania students graduate within six years 62.9% of the time, the 11th-best mark nationally.
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4. Oxnard, California
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 82.3%
This Southern California seaside city placed fourth in our rankings, narrowly beating Harrisburg, Pa. More than 82% of the residents here haven’t missed a student loan payment, either because they paid on time or enjoyed a respite such as a deferment or forbearance.
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3. Madison, Wisconsin
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 83.1%
Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin, checked in third on our list, thanks in part to its graduation rates. More than 65% of the 25-and-older residents here hold an associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
These degree holders are also finding jobs within the city more easily than elsewhere. Madison’s unemployment rate of 4.1% trumps that of the U.S. average (6.6%).
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2. San Jose, California
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 84.0%
San Jose might not be a surprise. The Silicon Valley hub is home to high-wage earners who manage their student loan payments right alongside the country’s highest cost of living: It’s 160% more expensive to live in San Jose than it is in the average American city, according to Sperling’s Best Places index.
Having a degree helps when seeking a high-paying tech job. About 64% of California students graduate from college within six years, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education, the ninth-best mark in the country.
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1. Provo, Utah
Borrowers who have never been late on a payment: 85.6%
Provo sits atop our rankings, as almost 9 out of 10 residents there haven’t missed any student loan payments. It helps that its residents don’t borrow as much for school as their peers in other states: Utah ranks 50th in the U.S. with an average per-student loan debt of $18,838, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS).
The Beehive State as a whole — besides having a lighter average debt load — has a smaller percentage of students carrying debt. Only 38% of Utahans are burdened by education loans, also the smallest proportion in the nation, according to TICAS.
LendingTree is the parent company of Student Loan Hero.
This article originally appeared on StudentLoanHero.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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