Americans are famous for spending now and paying the piper later, but the latest financial literacy ranking by WalletHub.com shows that some states are further behind than others when it comes to understanding finances.
Last week, we looked at the website's ranking of the Top 10 Smartest States for Financial IQ. Now we look at the states with the lowest financial IQ, whose citizens are more likely to have credit card debt, less likely to have formulated a household budget and prone to spending more than they earn.
Even the best of states fell far short of a perfect 100 score. To determine financial literacy, WalletHub assessed states based on three categories: the site's literacy test; knowledge & education; and planning & daily habits.
The site looked at the high school dropout rate, results of a FINRA literacy survey and the percentage of adults with a bachelor's degree among other things to rate states in the second category. The third category included looking at the percentage of people who spend more than they earn, how many have a rainy day fund and those paying just the minimum due on credit cards among other things.
(Related: Top 10 Smartest States for Financial IQ)
For the record, the District of Columbia had the worst literacy score of all at 51.30. For our list, we included only the states.
Taking everything into account led to the site's U.S. rankings.
Check out the 10 Dumbest States for Financial IQ: 2015:
10. OKLAHOMA
Overall Score: 58.36
Literacy: 40
Planning & Daily Habits: 47
Knowledge & Education: 32
9. RHODE ISLAND
Overall Score: 58.13
Literacy: 27
Planning & Daily Habits: 33
Knowledge & Education: 51
8. LOUISIANA
Overall Score: 58.02
Literacy: 39
Planning & Daily Habits: 50
Knowledge & Education: 29
7. KENTUCKY
Overall Score: 57.95
Literacy: 37
Planning & Daily Habits: 45
Knowledge & Education: 35
6. MISSOURI
Overall Score: 57.55
