Huntsville is nation’s most ‘financially resilient metro’ according to new study

Financial wellness website CardRate.com recently published a report ranking the country’s most resilient metros, and Huntsville topped the new list.

The study found that mid-sized metros like Huntsville are outperforming larger, high-cost cities due to more manageable housing costs, stronger employment stability and better income cushioning.

Here’s more:

Huntsville ranks #1 for financial resilience

CardRates analyzed 151 U.S. metro areas and cities using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and related public sources. Each metro or city was evaluated across eight indicators of household financial stress, including unemployment, retirement income, housing affordability (renters & owners), job diversity, home value and poverty rates.

Raw values were ranked and converted into 0–100 percentile scores to allow consistent comparisons across metros. Metrics where higher values indicate greater stress were inverted so higher scores always reflect stronger financial conditions. 

“Nationwide, American households are juggling rising costs, high debt, and housing pressures. Though financial strain feels like a universal experience in this economy, some Americans are feeling the burden more than others.

Our results found a significant gap between cities with households that were more resilient in the face of economic turmoil and those that were more vulnerable to said challenges, shifting the scale at which Americans experience financial struggles. 

Lynn Cadet, CardRates.com

According to the study these are the most financially resilient metros in the U.S:

1. Huntsville, AL (Score: 82.1)
2. Des Moines, IA (Score: 75.0)
3. York, PA — (Score: 72.4)
4. Raleigh, NC — (Score: 71.6)
5. Ogden, UT — (Score: 71.5)

The study found that Huntsville scored well compared to other markets on housing burdens–including rent and mortgage payments–while also boasting low home value-to-income ratios. We also ranked well on unemployment, poverty and uninsured rates. 

These five metros ranked the lowest:

• Fresno, CA — Rank #151 (Score: 22.4)
• Bakersfield, CA — Rank #150 (Score: 23.4)
• McAllen, TX — Rank #149 (Score: 25.3)
• New Orleans, LA — Rank #148 (Score: 25.3)
• New York, NY — Rank #147 (Score: 25.4)

To view the entire study and learn more about the metrics, go to CardRates.com.

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