Your credit score is based on a lot of factors, like how much debt you hold, your history of paying on time, and the length of time you’ve held positive credit accounts.
But is it possible that what kind of music you like, what you watch on late-night TV, and even what kind of phone you use is a telltale sign of if you have excellent or poor credit?
WalletHub.com did an extensive survey of 1,000 individuals, and then normalized the data by age, gender, and income so they could isolate some other unique characteristics. What they found – that portions of people with good or bad credit varied by how many kids we had, what pets we liked, and even what presidential candidates we are going to vote for – is fascinating and definitely entertaining!
To be clear, there is correlation – not causation – with these factors. For instance, the study found that the subgroup of Kanye West fans had a higher rate of bad credit scores than Taylor Swift fans, but of course that doesn’t mean listening to Kanye West will lower your credit score.
No matter who you are and where you bank, what kinds of sports we like, etc., education about credit scores and personal finance is crucial so you can do the right things to get a great score. Have fun with this but reach out to us if you’d like more information how to improve your credit score!
In an independent survey, Wallet Hub found that:
When it comes to late night television, there are significant differences in the percentage of viewers with good or bad credit depending on the TV personality:
Charlie Rose has the highest number of fans with good credit (66%) and only 10% with bad credit.
Scott Van Pelt is next with 55% of his fans with good credit and only 16% with bad credit.
Trevor Noah fans have 52% good credit, 30% bad credit.
Bill O’Reilly fans have 51% good credit, 10% bad credit.
Stephen Colbert fans have 47% good credit, 29% bad credit.
Jimmy Fallon fans have 41% good credit, 29% bad credit.
Jimmy Kimmel fans have 40% good credit, 24% bad credit.
Conan O’Brien fans have only a 32% rate of good credit, but an almost-equal 27% rate of bad credit.
And James Corden fans tie Conan O’Brien for the lowest percentage of good credit (32%), but his fans have a 41% rate of bad credit!
We can even break down the demographic of people with good versus bad credit based on their favorite sports or leisure activities:
Of all major sports, ice hockey has the most fans with excellent credit (53%)!
Meanwhile, those soccer hooligans must not being paying their bills on time because soccer has the most fans (34%) with bad credit.
How physically active and healthy we are also correlates with our credit scores:
For instance, people who exercise frequently have the best credit scores (54% excellent), but people no exercise infrequently or moderately have the worst credit (30% bad and 28% bad, respectively.)
Who we support for the next U.S. president even matters when it comes to groups with good or bad credit:
John Kasich has the most constituents with excellent credit (60%) of the remaining candidates.
Ted Cruz supporters have the second-best credit scores (55% excellent).
On the other side of the aisle, Hillary Clinton’s voting base have the worst credit scores (26% bad.)
But both Bernie Sanders (22% bad) and Donald Trump (20%) supporters aren’t far behind.
Apparently, if we have children or not helps differentiate our credit scores:
People without kids are more likely to have excellent credit than parents (49% to 40%).
Out of all parents, those with 3 kids have the best credit scores (49% excellent), while parents with 4 or more kids have the worst credit score (37%).
What kinds of family pets we have even helps mark our scores:
Dog lovers have a higher rate of excellent credit than cat owners (46% to 40%).
But when it comes to bad credit, dog and cat owners have an equal rate of bad credit (26%).
Technology plays a part in categorizing our credit scores:
iPhone users have the best credit scores (56% excellent),
But nearly half of all Blackberry users (46%) have bad credit!
Where you bank might even be a clue what kind of credit score you keep:
USAA is the most trusted bank among people with excellent credit,
American Express with most trusted bank for people with good credit,
and Capital One is the most trusted financial institution among people with bad credit.
Finally, our taste in music might be an indicator of how good or bad our credit scores are. The study found that:
88% of people with excellent credit prefer listening to Taylor Swift over Kanye West.
Kanye West also has more fans with bad credit (37%) than Taylor Swift (26%).
Pop music has the most fans with excellent credit scores (52%),
While hip-hop has the most fans with bad credit (43%).
