Financial literacy is not confined to any one area of the United States. People across the country have good spending and saving habits, says WalletHub.
In honor of National Financial Literacy Month in April, WalletHub, the online financial resource and research firm, ranked the 10 best and 10 worst states for the financial knowledge and habits of the residents.
WalletHub considered such things as who has rainy day funds and who spends more than they make. It also took into consideration the results of its WalletLiteracy Survey, in which consumers rate their own financial knowledge.
The following are the 10 states, in reverse order, where people are most knowledgeable about finances and put that knowledge to good use. 2016’s "Most and Least Financially Literate States" can be found here.
No. 10 Virginia
Virginians ranked second for knowledge and education.
No. 9 New York
New Yorkers ranked second for residents with rainy day funds.
No. 8 Utah
Residents of Utah ranked first for knowledge and education and sixth for planning and daily habits.
No. 7 Florida
Floridians ranked second for the WalletLiteracy Survey score.
No. 6 Maine
Maine residents ranked third for sustainable spending habits and second for lowest number of unbanked households.
No. 5 Maryland
Residents of Maryland ranked at the top for most residents with sustainable spending habits and fourth for both planning and daily habits and knowledge and education.
No. 4 New Jersey
New Jersey residents came in fifth for planning and daily habits and third for high school graduation rate.
No. 3 Illinois
Residents of Illinois came in sixth for the WalletLiteracy Survey scores and ranked high for knowledge and education and planning and daily habits.
No. 2 Minnesota
Minnesota grabbed the second spot by coming in sixth on the knowledge and education ranking and by also scoring high on planning and daily habits and on the WalletLiteracy Survey.
No. 1 New Hampshire
New Hampshire residents ranked top in the country by scoring first on planning and daily habits and fourth on fewest unbanked households.