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Report: Of Biggest Cities, Boston's Got The 'Best Budgeters'

Of the country's 30 biggest metro areas, Boston has the most responsible consumers, according to a new report from a credit card comparison website.

The study on the "best and worst budgeters," from the website Card Hub, ranked Boston first based on six factors: credit score; debt-to-annual income ratio; combined bankruptcy and foreclosure rate; credit card debt, adjusted for cost of living; total debt-to-median home price ratio; and non-housing expenses (adjusted for cost of living), relative to average income.

Boston places ahead of New York City, San Diego, San Francisco and Minneapolis, which round out the top five. Two Florida cities come in last, with Orlando in 30th and Tampa 29th.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the report Friday.

Card Hub says that about 22 percent of consumers "don’t even have a good idea of what they spend on things like housing, food, and entertainment."

The website also offers a handful of budgeting tips, including feeding an emergency fund and separating debt payments from everyday expenses.

This program aired on March 22, 2013. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Benjamin Swasey

Benjamin Swasey Digital Manager
Ben is WBUR's digital news manager.

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