2019’s Most & Least Financially Literate States

From WalletHub, April 3, 2019

After the Great Recession, it became clear that more people needed to learn financial literacy. The housing-market collapse and following financial crisis reminded Americans of our obsession with debt and the dangers of quick access to finances for under-informed consumers.

But how much have we learned since, and what are we doing to help future generations avoid repeating our mistakes?

Not enough, it would seem. We ended 2018 with $67 billion in new credit-card debt. That’s unsurprising, considering that only two in five adults actually have a budget. Total American credit card debt passed $1 trillion for the first time ever in 2018, so it’s clear that better financial education is necessary to try to turn this trend around. But the problems aren’t as pronounced in every state; some are more responsible than others.

In order to find the states with the best financial literacy, WalletHub analyzed financial-education programs and consumer habits — combined with the results of WalletHub’s proprietary WalletLiteracy Survey — in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their data set of 17 key metrics ranges from high-school financial literacy grade to share of adults with rainy-day funds….

read … Full Report

Hawaii

• 44 – Overall Rank*
• 55.82 -- Total Score
• 33 -- ‘WalletLiteracy’ Rank
• 22 -- ‘Financial Planning & Habits’ Rank
• 50 -- ‘Financial Knowledge & Education’ Rank (only Alaska is worse)
• 4 – Highest Share of Adults with Rainy-Day Funds