The average Worcester resident has a car loan equal to half of his or her annual salary, according to a new survey by the personal finance website WalletHub.
Still, Worcester residents aren’t nearly as bad as residents of many other cities. Worcester ranked 30th percentile among more than 2,500 cities, meaning that more than two-thirds of the others had residents who owe more money for their cars.
The typical Worcester car owner owes $14,000, WalletHub found, compared to a median income of $28,699.
Boston residents ranked slightly better, at 23 percentile, with a slightly higher average loan offset by even higher earnings of $34,027.
Other area communities included in the rankings: Marlborough (15 percentile), Framingham (23 percentile), Leominster (28 percentile), Fitchburg (48 percentile) and Providence (56 percentile).
Auto loans are a major, and growing, industry. WalletHub reported that such loans grew by $32 billion in the third quarter of last year alone, reaching a high of more than $1 trillion.
