Cardratings.com in Foster City, Calif. recently released theresults of a national study to find out what states have the bestand worst credit conditions. The credit conditions ofeach state were determined and ranked using five categories:average credit score from Equifax, foreclosure rates from AttomData Solutions, Credit card delinquency rates from TransUnion,unemployment rates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics andbankruptcy data from federal court records.

States primarily in the Northeast and Midwest made the bestlist, while states primarily in the South and West made the worstlist.

The Best States

No. 1: North Dakota

The Peace Garden State landed in the top 10 of all five of thestudy’s categories and earned its overall No. 1 ranking becauseNorth Dakota maintains the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation,Cardratings.com reported from its study.

No. 2: South Dakota

The Mount Rushmore State also ranked among the 10 best states inall five categories, but it earned the second best spot becauseSouth Dakota has the country’s lowest unemployment rate.

No. 3: Vermont

Though it didn’t lead in any one of the five categories, theGreen Mountain State ranked third overall because of Vermont’sstrength in the top 10 rankings across the board, according toCardratings.com.

No. 4: Montana

The Treasure State also ranked among the 10 best states in eachone of the five categories except employment, though Montananarrowly missed the top 10 in that category with a jobless rate ofonly 4%.

No. 5: Minnesota

People in the North Star State have an average credit rating of722.3, the highest in the U.S. Consequently, Minnesota also has oneof the lowest credit card delinquency rates among all the states,the study found.

No. 6: New Hampshire

The Granite State was tied with South Dakota for having thenation’s lowest jobless rate. New Hampshire also was better thanaverage in the other four categories.

No. 7: Nebraska

In four of the study’s five categories, the Cornhusker State wasranked among the 10 best states despite Nebraska’s bankruptcy ratethat landed in the middle of the pack.

No. 8: Iowa

The Hawkeye State was ranked among the 10 best states in threeout of five of the study’s categories. Additionally, Iowa scoredbetter than average in all five categories.

No. 9: Hawaii

While its foreclosure rates are a little higher than in moststates, Cardratings.com reported, the Aloha State made the No. 9spot because of its very low unemployment and bankruptcy rates.

No. 10: Maine

The Pine Tree State made the list because of its low bankruptcyrate. Maine also did better than average in all of the fivecategories, according to Cardratings.com.

No. 10: Massachusetts (tie)

Despite its somewhat high foreclosure rate, according toCardratings.com, the Bay State holds the third lowest jobless ratein the country and posted strong rankings for average credit scoresand low bankruptcy rate.

The Worst States

No. 1: (tie) Alabama

According to cardratings.com, Alabama holds the second highestbankruptcy rate in the nation. The Heart of Dixie State also landedamong the 10 worst states for credit scores, credit carddelinquencies and unemployment.

No. 1: (tie) Georgia

While Georgia has a bankruptcy rate almost as bad as Alabama’s,the Empire State of the South also is among the five worst of anystate for average credit score and credit card delinquency rate,according to the study.

No. 3: Nevada

While the Silver State has come a long way since the GreatRecession, Nevada continues to have one of the 10 highestforeclosure rates in the nation, cardratings.com found in itsstudy. Nevada also is among the 10 worst states for average creditscores and credit card delinquency rates.

No 4: Louisiana

The Pelican State has a foreclosure rate that is a little betterthan in most states, Cardratings.com’s study reported, butLouisiana also holds a credit card delinquency and average creditscore that each rank the second worst in the nation.

No. 5: Mississippi

Although the Magnolia State has a foreclosure rate that is amongthe lowest in the country, Mississippi made the bottom 10 states inall of the four other categories, including the lowest credit scoreand the highest credit card delinquency rate in the nation,according to cardratings.com.

No. 6: Florida

The Sunshine State made the worst list because Florida has thefourth highest foreclosure rate in the country, according to thestudy.

No.7: Tennessee

Cardratings.com’s study placed the Volunteer State on the worstlist because Tennessee has the highest bankruptcy rate in the U.S.

No. 8: (tie) Illinois

The Land of Lincoln State ranked in the bottom 10 in bankruptcy,unemployment and foreclosure rates though Illinois was slightlybetter than most states in average credit score and credit carddelinquency rates.

No. 8 (tie) New Mexico

With a jobless rate of 6.7%, the Land of Enchantment holds thesecond highest unemployment rate in the country.

No. 10 : Oklahoma

The Sooner State came in at the bottom 10 rankings in creditcard delinquencies and average credit score, according tocardratings.com’s study.