These NJ counties have the lowest credit card debt

Behold the credit rating. The mystery and the majesty of the holy credit rating.

You remember when you were a kid and adults in schools threatened you with something “going down on your permanent record? " Of course, there was no such thing.

Unless it was your credit rating they were speaking of, because that sucker can haunt you. Your worthiness depends on it. Marry the wrong person, and you can damage it. If you have an imperfect credit score, your car insurance can be unfairly impacted by it. Some prospective employers have judged your candidacy by your credit score.

As important as a credit score, can carrying more credit card debt lower that score? You bet your TRW it can.

The more debt you're carrying, the worse off your score can be because roughly 30% of your credit rating is based on the amount of debt you owe. High balances can lead to what’s called high credit utilization ratios, which can hurt you even if you’re paying your bill in full. Also, a high balance can increase your debt-to-income ratio. That can harm you in qualifying for new credit.

A study by SmartAsset set out to find places in the United States with the least credit card debt per capita as a percentage of income and net worth. They looked at metrics like income, credit card debt, debt as a percentage of income, and net worth to debt-adjusted scores.

One county in New Jersey can carry more credit card debt than another but still be in better shape because of other factors like average incomes. For example, Cumberland’s average debt is only $2,929, but their income averages only $28,311, so they don’t fare as well as Hunterdon County, with an average debt of $6,077 but an income average of $58,795.

Here are the Top Ten counties in New Jersey that fared the best according to SmartAsset.