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.

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.

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

RankStateState CodeTotal Score
(Out of 100)1MinnesotaMN732ColoradoCO693NebraskaNE694VirginiaVA695WisconsinWI686New HampshireNH687IowaIA678WashingtonWA679VermontVT6710New JerseyNJ6711MarylandMD6712FloridaFL6613UtahUT6614PennsylvaniaPA6515MaineME6516MichiganMI6517OregonOR6518North CarolinaNC6519OhioOH6520IndianaIN6521MissouriMO6522ArizonaAZ6423MassachusettsMA6424KansasKS6425ConnecticutCT6426DelawareDE6427North DakotaND6428West VirginiaWV6329TexasTX6330IdahoID6331Rhode IslandRI6332IllinoisIL6233GeorgiaGA6234WyomingWY6235New YorkNY6136NevadaNV6137South CarolinaSC6138MontanaMT6039New MexicoNM6040AlabamaAL6041HawaiiHI6042District of ColumbiaDC5843CaliforniaCA5844AlaskaAK5845LouisianaLA5846MississippiMS5847TennesseeTN5848KentuckyKY5749South DakotaSD5650OklahomaOK5451ArkansasAR53

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.

RankStateWalletLiteracy Rank
(50% Weight)Financial Planning
Rank (25% Weight)Financial Knowledge
Rank (25% Weight)1Minnesota7232Colorado81203Nebraska92564Virginia31915Wisconsin146146New Hampshire48237Iowa1027158Washington123309Vermont5202610New Jersey15291211Maryland13112212Florida3716913Utah4710214Pennsylvania26231715Maine1284016Michigan22221917Oregon4621418North Carolina3537819Ohio2943720Indiana33401021Missouri4039522Arizona18332523Massachusetts2073924Kansas11353525Connecticut5051126Delaware28152927North Dakota23133728West Virginia25471329Texas41381630Idaho39192831Rhode Island32183432Illinois27323333Georgia34442134Wyoming3304335New York24174236Nevada45312437South Carolina30344138Montana2364739New Mexico21483640Alabama44422741Hawaii19124842District of Columbia17244943California4244644Alaska6145145Louisiana43493246Mississippi36513147Tennessee49413848Kentucky51451849South Dakota16265050Oklahoma38504551Arkansas484644

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

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.