Top 10 Smartest States for Financial Literacy: 2015

April 06, 2015 at 07:16 AM
Share & Print

Being financially literate is growing ever more important as investments and market forces become more complicated.

To find out where the most financially literate people live, we turned to WalletHub.com's financial literacy rankings of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

WalletHub.com noted that there is a huge financial literacy problem in the U.S. For instance, 20% of Americans spend more than they make and 60% do not have money set aside for bad times. In addition, only about 40% have a budget.

WalletHub.com assessed states based on two categories: knowledge and education; and planning and 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, rate states in the first category. The second 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.

The rankings were designed to differentiate between financial hardship and lack of knowledge.

Check out the 10 Smartest States for Financial Literacy: 2015 and watch later for the 10 Dumbest States for Financial Literacy.

Richmond, Virginia, skyline

10. VIRGINIA

Overall Score: 1st out of 51

Knowledge & Education: 3rd out of 51

Planning & Daily Habits: 20th out of 51

Liberty Bell in Philadelphia

9. PENNSYLVANIA

Overall Score: 9

Knowledge & Education: 30

Planning & Daily Habits: 4

Minneapolis

8. MINNESOTA

Overall Score: 8

Knowledge & Education: 8

Planning & Daily Habits: 13

Sears Tower in Chicago

7. ILLINOIS

Overall Score: 7

Knowledge & Education: 14

Planning & Daily Habits: 8

Bismarck, North Dakota

6. NORTH DAKOTA

Overall Score: 6

Knowledge & Education: 33

Planning & Daily Habits: 3

Newark, New Jersey, skyline

5. NEW JERSEY

Overall Score: 5

Knowledge & Education: 11

Planning & Daily Habits: 9

Baltimore Harbor

4. MARYLAND

Overall Score: 4

Knowledge & Education: 12

Planning & Daily Habits: 4

Eating chowder in Boston. (Photo: AP)

3. MASSACHUSETTS

Overall Score: 3

Knowledge & Education: 21

Planning & Daily Habits: 2

Mormon Temple Square in Salt Lake City. (Photo: AP)

2. UTAH

Overall Score: 2

Knowledge & Education: 1

Planning & Daily Habits: 7

Covered bridge in New Hampshire

1. NEW HAMPSHIRE

Overall Score: 1

Knowledge & Education: 2

Planning & Daily Habits: 1

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center