WalletHub carried out a study to find out which US states have more and less financial education, finding that Nebraska and Arkansas are at the extremes of the list.
The specialized financial information site points out that Americans ended 2022 with more than $1 trillion dollars in total credit card debt: “It is clear that better financial education is necessary to try to reverse this trend. However, the problems are not as pronounced in all states. Some states are more responsible than others.”
“After the Great Recession, it became clear that more people needed to learn financial education. The collapse of the housing market and the subsequent financial crisis reminded Americans of our obsession with debt and the dangers of quick access to finance for uninformed consumers. The importance of people being smart about their finances became even more pronounced during the Covid-19 pandemic and remains crucial today during this period of high inflation,” says WalletHub.
To find the states best prepared in this area, the site analyzed financial education programs and consumer habits, combined with the results of the WalletHub-owned WalletLiteracy Survey, in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. .
The data set covers 17 key metrics, from high school financial literacy score to the proportion of adults with funds for emergencies. Each metric was rated on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of financial literacy.
States with the highest financial literacy, according to WalletHub:
State (1): Nebraska
Total score: 69.06
Wallet Literacy: 7
Financial Planning and Habits: 30
Education and financial knowledge: 3
State (2): Utah
Total score: 68.54
Wallet Literacy: 32
Financial Planning and Habits: 11
Education and financial knowledge: 2
State (3): Virginia
Total score: 68.41
Wallet Literacy: 36
Financial Planning and Habits: 12
Education and financial knowledge: 1
State (4): Colorado
Total score: 68.40
Wallet Literacy: 8
Financial Planning and Habits: 2
Financial education and knowledge: 8
State (5): Minnesota
Total score: 67.86
Wallet Literacy: 10
Financial Planning and Habits: 1
Education and financial knowledge: 10
In counterpart:
State (47): Mississippi
Total score: 55.56
Wallet Literacy: 33
Financial Planning and Habits: 51
Financial education and knowledge: 26
State (48): Oklahoma
Total score: 54.24
Wallet Literacy: 40
Financial Planning and Habits: 50
Financial education and knowledge: 40
State (49): New Mexico
Total score: 54.13
Wallet Literacy: 16
Financial Planning and Habits: 49
Financial education and knowledge: 49
State (50): Louisiana
Total score: 53.18
Wallet Literacy: 45
Financial Planning and Habits: 48
Financial education and knowledge: 39
State (51): Arkansas
Total score: 51.00
Wallet Literacy: 50
Financial Planning and Habits: 45
Financial education and knowledge: 45
For more details about the study and the methodology, click here.
Keep reading:
· In the US, 1 in 3 parents say that money prevents them from having more children
Increased number of Americans using credit cards to cover essential expenses
· When good accounts are not made, love suffers