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Fort Worthians charge up hefty portion of their available credit, study shows

Credit card debt in the Metroplex nears experts' recommended limit.

Dallas-Fort Worth's credit card debt is front and center with the release of a new report, and it reveals a pretty big burden for local spenders.

A study from CompareCards.com finds that the average credit card user in the Metroplex has a credit card utilization rate of 29.6 percent and a balance of $5,878, ranking No. 33 out the 50 largest metros in the country.

Credit card utilization rates — a credit card's balance compared to its spending limit — is "the second-most important factor in credit scoring formulas behind your payment history — how often you pay your bills on time — so it’s a big deal," the site notes. Financial experts generally recommend keeping spending to no more than 30 percent of a card's limit. The good news is that DFW is below this threshold.

For the study, CompareCards.com compared user data from My LendingTree from September 2017 with data from September 2018. Credit card holders in other major Texas cities struggle even more with mounting debt and high utilization rates.

San Antonio has the highest credit card utilization rate of the cities on the list, at 35.1 percent and with the average credit card balance of $5,477. Houston ranks fifth, with 32.7 percent and an average balance of $5,587. Austin ranks just ahead of DFW, at No. 32; credit card holders there are using 29.7 percent of their limit and carry a balance of $5,878.

Credit card holders in the San Francisco Bay Area have the lowest utilization rates in the U.S. San Francisco-Oakland ranks No. 49 at 26 percent, while San Jose ranks No. 50 with 23.8 percent.

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Meteor News

Visible meteor shower will appear in Fort Worth skies this week

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Meteor activity

A meteor shower will be visible from most of North America, including Fort Worth, during the week of October 6-10.

The Draconid meteor shower – also called the Giacobinids – is predicted to produce the most meteor activity on the night of October 7 and through the early hours of October 8. The peak is expected to occur at 12 am on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

But there will still be sightings on subsequent nights, stargazing experts say, with the overall duration of the shower extending from October 6-10.

According to EarthSky, a cool website devoted to all things starry, the Draconids will be visible right after it gets dark, rather than the more common early morning hours most meteor showers are visible.

The best time will be just after sunset, until around midnight. Viewers won't have to stay up until the crack of dawn.

Helping to make the meteor even more visible is a waxing moon, barely a crack — only 27 percent illuminated — which will cast less light and keep the sky darker overall.

EarthSky says that the meteors are radiating from two stars known as the Dragon’s Eyes, called Eltanin and Rastaban, found in the constellation Draco. Which is located in between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.

However, the meteor shower will be visible across the sky.

The shower is dubbed a "sleeper" in that it produces only a handful of meteors — 10 per hour. But they move slower, so the duration of each streak of light sometimes lasts longer — one to two seconds, rather than a rapid flash.

Meteor showers consist of debris left behind by comets and asteroids, which throw off bits of rock and ice as they orbit the sun. The Draconids are the result of Earth passing through this trail from the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. The comet completes an orbit of the sun about every seven years, and according to CNN, the last time got this close to Earth was in September 2018.

The best way to see it is to find a place that's far from artificial light, then lie on your back and look up at the sky with a wide view. No special equipment is needed.

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