Minnesota Is The Most Financially Literate State In The US

Minnesota Is The Most Financially Literate State In The US

How well are Americans managing their money, and how does it vary between the states?

This financial literacy map, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, attempts to answer both questions using 2025 data from WalletHub, a personal finance services company.

They ranked and scored states on three main benchmarks: financial education, financial planning (or consumer habits), and how Wallethub’s own users performed on their financial literacy survey.

ℹ️ These benchmarks are further subdivided into 17 metrics (credit score, savings, personal finance courses, etc.) and are weighted differently. Please read the source’s methodology section for a full breakdown.

The Most Financially Savvy U.S. State

Minnesota is the most financially literate U.S. state with 73 points, according to WalletHub’s latest analysis.

Here’s some sub indicators where Minnesota outperformed the rest of the country.

High-schoolers must take at least one personal finance program. Only 15% of the surveyed Minnesotans spent more than they made—the lowest across all states. Highest median credit score in the country (751).

And here’s how each state scores out of 100. Figures are rounded.

Rank State State Code Total Score
(Out of 100) 1 Minnesota MN 73 2 Colorado CO 69 3 Nebraska NE 69 4 Virginia VA 69 5 Wisconsin WI 68 6 New Hampshire NH 68 7 Iowa IA 67 8 Washington WA 67 9 Vermont VT 67 10 New Jersey NJ 67 11 Maryland MD 67 12 Florida FL 66 13 Utah UT 66 14 Pennsylvania PA 65 15 Maine ME 65 16 Michigan MI 65 17 Oregon OR 65 18 North Carolina NC 65 19 Ohio OH 65 20 Indiana IN 65 21 Missouri MO 65 22 Arizona AZ 64 23 Massachusetts MA 64 24 Kansas KS 64 25 Connecticut CT 64 26 Delaware DE 64 27 North Dakota ND 64 28 West Virginia WV 63 29 Texas TX 63 30 Idaho ID 63 31 Rhode Island RI 63 32 Illinois IL 62 33 Georgia GA 62 34 Wyoming WY 62 35 New York NY 61 36 Nevada NV 61 37 South Carolina SC 61 38 Montana MT 60 39 New Mexico NM 60 40 Alabama AL 60 41 Hawaii HI 60 42 District of Columbia DC 58 43 California CA 58 44 Alaska AK 58 45 Louisiana LA 58 46 Mississippi MS 58 47 Tennessee TN 58 48 Kentucky KY 57 49 South Dakota SD 56 50 Oklahoma OK 54 51 Arkansas AR 53

Meanwhile, Arkansas tested the worst, with 53 points. Its score is impacted by having the second-worst performance on WalletHub’s financial literacy survey.

And here’s each state’s rank within the three main benchmarks.

Rank State WalletLiteracy Rank
(50% Weight) Financial Planning
Rank (25% Weight) Financial Knowledge
Rank (25% Weight) 1 Minnesota 7 2 3 2 Colorado 8 1 20 3 Nebraska 9 25 6 4 Virginia 31 9 1 5 Wisconsin 14 6 14 6 New Hampshire 4 8 23 7 Iowa 10 27 15 8 Washington 12 3 30 9 Vermont 5 20 26 10 New Jersey 15 29 12 11 Maryland 13 11 22 12 Florida 37 16 9 13 Utah 47 10 2 14 Pennsylvania 26 23 17 15 Maine 1 28 40 16 Michigan 22 22 19 17 Oregon 46 21 4 18 North Carolina 35 37 8 19 Ohio 29 43 7 20 Indiana 33 40 10 21 Missouri 40 39 5 22 Arizona 18 33 25 23 Massachusetts 20 7 39 24 Kansas 11 35 35 25 Connecticut 50 5 11 26 Delaware 28 15 29 27 North Dakota 23 13 37 28 West Virginia 25 47 13 29 Texas 41 38 16 30 Idaho 39 19 28 31 Rhode Island 32 18 34 32 Illinois 27 32 33 33 Georgia 34 44 21 34 Wyoming 3 30 43 35 New York 24 17 42 36 Nevada 45 31 24 37 South Carolina 30 34 41 38 Montana 2 36 47 39 New Mexico 21 48 36 40 Alabama 44 42 27 41 Hawaii 19 12 48 42 District of Columbia 17 24 49 43 California 42 4 46 44 Alaska 6 14 51 45 Louisiana 43 49 32 46 Mississippi 36 51 31 47 Tennessee 49 41 38 48 Kentucky 51 45 18 49 South Dakota 16 26 50 50 Oklahoma 38 50 45 51 Arkansas 48 46 44

There’s some further insights to explain some noticeable geographic trends.

Colorado and Nebraska also require personal finance education in high school. Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas have the lowest share of adults with emergency cash. A higher share of Southern state residents borrow from non-bank lenders, affecting their financial planning score. The Overlooked Part of Financial Literacy: Managing Debt

While investing in the markets is all the rage—particularly with the rise of no-fee platforms—WalletHub’s benchmarks prioritize an often overlooked part of money management: debt.

America’s credit card debt collectively crossed $1 trillion in 2023, and it’s only been growing since.

On average, American households have about $5,000 in outstanding credit card balances, which can take anywhere between one to two years to pay off depending on monthly incomes.

Of course, managing expenditures to avoid or reduce debt has been particularly difficult in the multiple years of post-pandemic inflation.

Need more money management insights about the United States? Check out: America’s Average Bank Account Balance, by State for a quick overview.

Tyler Durden Mon, 05/12/2025 - 05:45