What if I told you that if you raise credit scores 100 points on average, neighborhood by neighborhood across America, you stabilize the nation? Well, as odd as it sounds, I mean it.
At Operation HOPE we launched the HOPE Community Credit Score Index powered by data from Experian, which mapped credit scores by zip code, clear across America. The findings were extraordinary. here are a couple of the big findings:
* Communities with below 600 credit scores tend to have very high ‘violent crimes per 1K residents’ ratios.
* Communities with below 600 credit scores tend to have low home ownership rates and low rates of high school graduations.
* Communities with below 600 credit scores tend to have a life expectancy of 15-20 years less, than communities with above 700 credit scores — even if these communities are only minutes from each other!
In Washington, DC we compared two communities within 13 miles of each other, and the data just jumps off the page.
But what is equally compelling, is how our HOPE Financial Coaches in our growing network of HOPE Inside locations, are making a difference in the lives of everyday, working class people. This includes raising credit scores 50 points or more in six months, lowering consumer debt $2,000 to $3,000 in a year, and helping to increase savings by $500 to $1,000, and more.
Sign on to our HOPE Community Credit Score Index and find out what your communities credit score is.
Tell me your zip code, and we will tell you how you’re living.
John Hope Bryant