This spooky map looks at how long it takes to pay off the typical credit card debt in every state.
The scariest part of Halloween isn’t the costumes or the jumpscares.
It’s the fact Halloween is the harbinger of the holiday season. The season of spending a lot of money.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s give this ghoulish celebration its due – by going straight to hell.
In the interactive map below, Debt.com shows just how hard it is to get out of credit card debt when you’re making minimum payments. It can take more years than there are Friday the 13th and Saw movies combined. Now that’s scary.
But don’t abandon all hope, ye who click here. Even if you live in Alaska – the state deepest in credit hell, where making minimum payments will lose you an average of $4,617 just on interest – it’s possibly to get out of debt quickly.
It requires a lot of sacrifice and some simple but disciplined budgeting, but if you can dedicate 15 percent of your paycheck to paying down credit card debt, you can see daylight in just five months. In many places, you can do it even faster.
Of course, that’s assuming you have the typical credit card debt. We used credit card debt per capita figures from the Federal Reserve, and compared it to the Census Bureau’s median income. If you want to check out what your personal situation looks like, plug your numbers into our credit card debt calculator.
Even if the thought of setting aside 15 percent of your income makes you a little pale, the lesson is pretty clear: Every little bit helps. Give the devil his due and never make the minimum payment if you can help it. Otherwise, you’re in for some unhappy haunting.
Check out the full rankings below…
| State | Payoff time with minimum payments | Credit card balance per capita | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 20 years and 7 months | $4,110 | 50 |
| New Jersey | 19 years and 9 months | $3,730 | 49 |
| Hawaii | 19 years and 7 months | $3,650 | 48 |
| Virginia | 19 years and 5 months | $3,570 | 47 |
| Maryland | 19 years and 4 months | $3,560 | 46 |
| Connecticut | 19 years and 4 months | $3,540 | 45 |
| New York | 19 years and 3 months | $3,520 | 44 |
| N.H. | 18 years and 9 months | $3,310 | 43 |
| Washington | 18 years and 7 months | $3,240 | 42 |
| California | 18 years and 6 months | $3,220 | 41 |
| Rhode Island | 18 years and 3 months | $3,110 | 40 |
| Minnesota | 18 years and 2 months | $3,080 | 39 |
| Florida | 18 years and 2 months | $3,070 | 38 |
| Colorado | 18 years and 11 months | $3,380 | 37 |
| Mass. | 18 years and 10 months | $3,340 | 36 |
| Texas | 17 years and 9 months | $2,940 | 35 |
| Arizona | 17 years and 9 months | $2,930 | 34 |
| Pennsylvania | 17 years and 8 months | $2,900 | 33 |
| Georgia | 17 years and 8 months | $2,890 | 32 |
| Vermont | 17 years and 7 months | $2,880 | 31 |
| Wyoming | 17 years and 5 months | $2,800 | 30 |
| Oregon | 17 years and 5 months | $2,800 | 29 |
| N. Dakota | 17 years and 5 months | $2,810 | 28 |
| Utah | 17 years and 3 months | $2,750 | 27 |
| Montana | 17 years and 2 months | $2,730 | 26 |
| Nevada | 17 years and 11 months | $3,000 | 25 |
| Delaware | 17 years and 11 months | $3,000 | 24 |
| Illinois | 17 years and 10 months | $2,970 | 23 |
| N. Carolina | 17 years and 1 month | $2,710 | 22 |
| Maine | 17 years | $2,670 | 21 |
| Ohio | 16 years and 8 months | $2,570 | 20 |
| New Mexico | 16 years and 7 months | $2,550 | 19 |
| Wisconsin | 16 years and 6 months | $2,530 | 18 |
| S. Carolina | 16 years and 5 months | $2,500 | 17 |
| Missouri | 16 years and 5 months | $2,490 | 16 |
| Michigan | 16 years and 4 months | $2,480 | 15 |
| S. Dakota | 16 years and 11 months | $2,650 | 14 |
| Nebraska | 16 years and 11 months | $2,640 | 13 |
| Kansas | 16 years and 10 months | $2,610 | 12 |
| Idaho | 16 years and 10 months | $2,630 | 11 |
| Tennessee | 16 years | $2,360 | 10 |
| Indiana | 16 years | $2,370 | 9 |
| Louisiana | 15 years and 8 months | $2,270 | 8 |
| Kentucky | 15 years and 4 months | $2,180 | 7 |
| Alabama | 15 years and 4 months | $2,190 | 6 |
| West Virginia | 15 years and 3 months | $2,160 | 5 |
| Arkansas | 15 years and 2 months | $2,150 | 4 |
| Iowa | 15 years and 11 months | $2,340 | 3 |
| Oklahoma | 15 years and 10 months | $2,330 | 2 |
| Mississippi | 13 years and 11 months | $1,850 | 1 |
Published by Debt.com, LLC
