We looked at several credit cards to determine which ones would be a good fit for low-income earners. We considered minimum spending requirements for welcome bonuses and tried to avoid annual fees unless there’s a good way to make up for them.
We also included several cards with 0% APR options for users who might need some time to pay off a large purchase or balance transfer. Finally, we considered the best credit cards across the credit spectrum.
Forbes Advisor rates cards both as stand-alone products (the card rating on the review) and compared to others in a specific use case (the card rating you see on a specific “Best” list). The rating for each card changes on different “Best” lists according to how a person looking for a card in that category may value certain card features.
For instance, a card that might be considered mediocre on a list of rewards cards could be the top card on a list of rewards cards with no annual fee. That’s because the card might offer limited features compared to other rewards cards, but after we remove cards that charge an annual fee, it’s the best card that remains.
Forbes Advisor uses data from multiple government agencies to determine how much a typical cardholder might spend. We use the same numbers for cards in the same category to make sure we are comparing cards the same way. The bonus categories for spending included with each card are factored into our determination of how many rewards a cardholder could expect to earn if they use the card as a consumer normally would.
Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards