(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Sometimes big research firms don’t take into account whether their language is fair when dealing with all those studied for a particular article. For example, WalletHub’s “States where people are most diligent with credit (2026)” implies those in the lower-ranking states aren’t “diligent,” when what’s really going on might be quite the opposite.

“Being diligent about your credit goes far beyond just making timely payments and only borrowing what you can afford to pay back, although those elements are important,” said analyst Chip Lupo. “True diligence also includes monitoring your credit reports regularly to make sure there are no inaccuracies and swiftly reporting anything that’s out of place. Mistakes on your credit report can unfairly hurt your credit score.”

Fair enough. But much of that is easier in some states than others, and not because the individuals living there don’t care about their credit or wish they could be doing better with it.

Predictably, West Virginia ranks near the bottom in this study as the 45th most diligent state. If you look at the company we’re keeping (46 through 50 are Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana), it’s not hard to start figuring out why.

The Mountain State is also 46th for the percentage of customers who have foreclosures.

If that list of states at the bottom looks familiar, it’s because they are also often in about the same spots on reports about the poorest states. It’s likely many West Virginia families would like to be more “diligent” when it comes to their credit, but their circumstances don’t allow for it.

And, frankly, some have probably struggled for so long that they don’t need to monitor their credit to tell them they’re in a mess. They avoid looking into it because they’re not thinking about whether there are mistakes. They’re thinking if they could do something about their status, they would.

Sure, many West Virginians could use better financial literacy and education. They also could use better-paying and more plentiful jobs, and a host of other quality-of-life improvements that would allow them to be more “diligent” in making payments on time and paying down debt.

Eight jobs here or ten jobs there is not going to make the difference we need, and the people in Charleston who could be doing more to expand and diversify our economy know it.

Maybe THEY need to be a little more diligent about remembering they work for US.