If you are a lender, then California is likely looking pretty good right now. A state-by-state study conducted by Mortgage Marvel indicates that the average credit score in California is 755, which is 20 points higher than the national average[1]. The online mortgage-shopping service’s product manager, Rick Allen, expressed surprise at the results, pointing out that “with all of California’s well-publicized issues with decreasing property values and foreclosures, I would have expected it to be well down the list.” Allen added that he believes that the state’s high average credit score indicates that for the most part, Californians have “figured out how to weather the financial storms.”

Allen added that although Mortgage Marvel analysts had expected the results to follow troubled real estate markets, they did not follow as closely as expected. Instead, credit scores and per capita income were closely tied, with Northeastern and Western markets, which tended to have higher credit scores, also having the highest per capita income. The Southeastern region of the country, however, has a lower per capita income and although the real estate crash has not hit the area as relatively hard as other areas of the country, it is in this region that credit scores have taken a serious hit. Five of the 10 lowest credit positions were in the Southeast, with Mississippi scoring the lowest with a 695.

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[1] http://www.dsnews.com/articles/study-finds-california-mortgage-applicants-have-highest-credit-scores-2011-01-19