An on-line financial company has released a study evaluating which counties in the country have the lowest per capita personal debt — and a couple of Iowa counties are cited. SmartAsset ranks the residents of Wright County, Iowa, as having the fourth smallest personal debt load of a county in the country. According to the analysis, residents in the Wright County area spend, on average, about 41 percent of their income on a mortgage, another eight percent on credit card debt and seven-and-a-half percent of their income on a vehicle loan.

Clay County ranks second in the state — and 14th nationally — for lowest per capita personal debt load. O’Brien, Des Moines, Allamakee, Buena Vista, Henry, Kossuth, Jackson and Floyd Counties were all ranked in the top 10 — in Iowa — for low personal debt.

In the immediate KJAN listening area:

• Cass County ranks 24th lowest in the State for personal debt load. Residents spend, on average 7.9% of their income on credit card debt, 12.1% on a vehicle loan, and 80.2% on a mortgage. The average income per capita is $25,448.
• In Guthrie County, which ranked 27th, residents spend about 9.5% of their income for credit card debt, 11.6% for vehicle loans, and 66% for a mortgage.
• And in Pottawattamie County, which ranks 54th, and where the per capita income is $25,847, residents spend 9.1% of that for credit card debt, 12.9% for vehicle loans, and 94.3% of their income for a mortgage.

SmartAsset didn’t have enough data to list for Audubon, Adair, Adams, Montgomery and Shelby Counties. Information is available for Harrison, Mills and Page Counties in southwest Iowa. See the link under this same story on the News page at kjan.com, for information about other Iowa counties.

Go to https://smartasset.com/personal-loans/personal-loan-rates#iowa to see the SmartAsset analysis and data for many other Iowa counties.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN)