More than 9 in 10 Americans believe budgeting should be taught in schools, according to a recent WalletHub survey. Yet only 17 out of 50 states earn an A rating from the American Public Education Foundation. To receive an A, a state must require high school students to complete a standalone personal-finance course and integrate financial literacy education throughout the K–12 curriculum.
To see which states are doing the best job teaching budgeting skills, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia using 11 key metrics ranging from whether students must take a personal-finance course to financial literacy test scores and overall school rankings.
Even if you live in a state that doesn’t offer formal budgeting education, it’s still essential to create and stick to a budget. Doing so will help you handle price spikes, economic fluctuations, unexpected layoffs, and other financial challenges more confidently.
Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst
Main Findings
States With the Best High School Budgeting Education
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Financial Education Performance & Access Rank | Financial Education Growth Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 85.13 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | Virginia | 81.87 | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | Florida | 78.95 | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 76.64 | 3 | 18 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 73.17 | 6 | 15 |
| 6 | New Jersey | 72.73 | 4 | 25 |
| 7 | Georgia | 69.70 | 7 | 19 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 69.27 | 10 | 3 |
| 9 | Alabama | 68.55 | 8 | 20 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 67.07 | 11 | 9 |
| 11 | Oregon | 65.08 | 13 | 10 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 64.99 | 9 | 21 |
| 13 | Ohio | 64.67 | 19 | 2 |
| 14 | Michigan | 64.50 | 14 | 13 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 63.09 | 18 | 6 |
| 16 | Missouri | 62.04 | 17 | 15 |
| 17 | Connecticut | 60.53 | 26 | 5 |
| 18 | Nebraska | 60.20 | 22 | 13 |
| 19 | Nevada | 59.73 | 15 | 26 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 57.99 | 12 | 38 |
| 21 | Indiana | 57.85 | 27 | 11 |
| 22 | Idaho | 56.96 | 21 | 27 |
| 23 | Maryland | 56.62 | 20 | 34 |
| 24 | Kansas | 56.14 | 30 | 7 |
| 25 | Arizona | 55.16 | 23 | 31 |
| 26 | Colorado | 55.07 | 16 | 41 |
| 27 | New York | 54.69 | 24 | 33 |
| 28 | New Mexico | 54.18 | 25 | 30 |
| 29 | Louisiana | 51.90 | 37 | 4 |
| 30 | Iowa | 51.89 | 32 | 21 |
| 31 | Rhode Island | 51.60 | 33 | 21 |
| 32 | West Virginia | 51.60 | 36 | 8 |
| 33 | Texas | 51.13 | 29 | 29 |
| 34 | Kentucky | 50.51 | 31 | 31 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 48.85 | 34 | 36 |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | 48.06 | 28 | 39 |
| 37 | Delaware | 43.61 | 35 | 42 |
| 38 | North Dakota | 42.53 | 39 | 35 |
| 39 | Illinois | 38.93 | 44 | 24 |
| 40 | California | 32.66 | 38 | 49 |
| 41 | Vermont | 31.90 | 43 | 43 |
| 42 | Maine | 31.11 | 49 | 27 |
| 43 | Washington | 30.77 | 45 | 40 |
| 44 | Oklahoma | 30.55 | 47 | 37 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 30.39 | 42 | 44 |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 27.78 | 41 | 48 |
| 47 | District of Columbia | 27.55 | 40 | 51 |
| 48 | Alaska | 25.12 | 46 | 45 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 22.81 | 48 | 47 |
| 50 | Montana | 17.88 | 51 | 46 |
| 51 | South Dakota | 14.01 | 50 | 49 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of each state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that category.
- Highest
- 1. West Virginia
- 2. New Mexico
- 3. Hawaii
- 4. Wyoming
- 5. Oregon
- Lowest
- 46. Arizona
- 47. Nevada
- 48. Louisiana
- 49. Arkansas
- 50. Delaware
- Best
- T-1. Florida
- T-1. Virginia
- T-1. North Carolina
- T-1. Ohio
- T-1. Utah
- Worst
- T-45. Hawaii
- T-45. Montana
- T-49. Alaska
- T-49. District of Columbia
- T-49. South Dakota
- Highest
- T-1. New Jersey
- T-1. Wisconsin
- T-1. Massachusetts
- 4. Utah
- 5. Minnesota
- Lowest
- 47. Delaware
- T-48. Alabama
- T-48. West Virginia
- 50. Oklahoma
- 51. New Mexico
- Highest
- T-1. Utah
- T-1. Virginia
- T-1. Missouri
- 4. Tennessee
- 5. Alabama
- Lowest
- 47. Arizona
- 48. California
- 49. Hawaii
- 50. Alaska
- 51. District of Columbia
- Highest
- 1. New Jersey
- 2. District of Columbia
- 3. Massachusetts
- 4. Florida
- 5. Connecticut
- Lowest
- 47. Mississippi
- T-48. Maine
- T-48. South Dakota
- T-50. North Dakota
- T-50. Wyoming
- Best
- T-1. Florida
- T-1. Connecticut
- T-1. Virginia
- T-1. Georgia
- T-1. Rhode Island
- T-1. Nebraska
- Worst
- T-44. Alaska
- T-44. Wyoming
- T-48. District of Columbia
- T-48. Massachusetts
- T-48. California
- T-48. South Dakota
In-Depth Look at the Top States
Utah
Utah schools have the most robust budgeting education, in part because students are required to take personal-finance and economics courses during high school. Utah also conducts standardized testing on both personal finance and economics.
These course requirements have helped Utah get the highest possible high school financial literacy grade from the American Public Education Foundation, and the state is projected to maintain this rank through at least 2028.
To top things off, Utah also has the second-highest share of eighth-graders who are proficient in math, which means that they are well prepared to start learning about financial concepts in high school.
Virginia
Virginia has the second-best budgeting education in high school. It receives top marks in high school financial literacy from the American Public Education Foundation and scores very well for academics in general.
In order to receive an “A” grade for teaching financial literacy, a state must include personal-finance education in the K-12 curriculum and mandate that students take a personal-finance course before graduation. Virginia actually requires high school students to take both personal-finance and economics courses before graduation, which gives them an excellent foundation for good budgeting skills.
In addition, nearly 11% of Virginia schools rank in the top 10% of high schools nationally when it comes to academic performance and graduation rates, the 14th-highest percentage in the country. On top of being educated about personal finance, students leave high school prepared with the math and reading skills necessary to succeed in the workforce.
Florida
Florida comes in third for the quality of its high school budgeting education, due in large part to requiring both economics and personal-finance classes in high school.
As a result, the state gets the highest high school financial literacy grade from the American Public Education Foundation and is projected to continue having this rating through at least 2028.
Florida has also made improvements in recent years. For example, 25% more students were guaranteed to take at least one course in personal finance before graduation during the 2025 school year compared to 2024. That’s the best increase in the nation.
Ask the Experts
In order to learn more about the importance of budgeting education, WalletHub turned to a panel of experts. You can click on the experts below to read their bios and see their responses to the following key questions:
- What are the most effective ways to teach personal finance in high schools?
- What are the long-term benefits of budgeting education for youth?
- What should financial education classes cover?
- Why are some states still failing to provide adequate basic financial literacy education?
- What policies should the government enact to encourage Americans to practice healthy financial habits from a young age?
Ask the Experts
DBA, MBA, MJUR, CWM®, Associate Professor of Finance, Lynn University
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Ph.D., MBA – Instructor of Business Administration - Lindsey Wilson College
Read More
MBA, CLU, CFP (r), ChFC, CASL, WMCP - Instructor of Practice, Finance Department - Marquette University
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Ph.D. – Adjunct Instructor, Delgado Community College, Business & Technology Department and Owner, LIV Consultants, LLC
Read More
5 Tips for Learning About Budgeting
- Take classes: Even if your high school didn’t offer courses on budgeting or personal finance, it’s not too late to take a class! You can take a course from your local community college, or take online courses from various schools or even organizations such as AARP, in order to improve your knowledge of key financial concepts.
- Read articles: There are tons of free resources online that can teach you how to make a budget and why it’s important. Making a budget isn’t hard – you just need to be aware of the basic steps.
- Talk to friends and family: Discussing personal finance and budgeting with your friends and family can help you expand your knowledge and find out what strategies work best for other people. You can also ask people close to you to help keep you accountable once you do have a budget.
- Try online tools: Many apps allow you to create a budget for free online, and they may even be able to sync with your accounts to track your progress in real time. You may even be able to choose from a few different budget templates, which can make budgeting as easy as just plugging in a few numbers.
- Test your knowledge: You can take a financial literacy quiz to see how much you already know and identify the areas where you need to expand your understanding.
Methodology
In order to determine the states with the best high schools’ budgeting education, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions: 1) Financial Education Performance & Access and 2) Financial Education Growth.
We evaluated those categories using 11 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best high schools’ budgeting education.
Finally, we determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Financial Education Performance & Access – Total Points: 75
- Students Required to Take at Least One Personal Finance Course: Triple Weight (~11.84 Points)
Note: Binary metric:
1 - Standalone High School Course is Required to be Taken or Required Coursework Integrated into Another Course;
0 - Finance Course is Not Required - Students Required to Take at Least One Economics Course: Triple Weight (~11.84 Points)
Note: Binary metric:
1 - Standalone High School Course is Required to be Taken or Required Coursework Integrated into Another Course;
0 - Economics Course is Not Required - States Requiring Standardized Testing of Personal Finance Concepts: Full Weight (~3.95 Points)
Note: Binary metric:
1 – State Requires Standardized Testing of Personal Finance Concepts;
0 - State Doesn’t Require Standardized Testing of Personal Finance Concepts - States Requiring Standardized Testing of Economic Concepts: Full Weight (~3.95 Points)
Note: Binary metric:
1 – State Requires Standardized Testing of Economic Concepts;
0 - State Doesn’t Require Standardized Testing of Economic Concepts - Average Scores on National Financial Literacy Test: Full Weight (~3.95 Points)
Note: Over 107,000 people – representing all 50 US states – have completed the National Financial Literacy Test, a 30-question test designed to measure participants’ ability to earn, save, and grow their money. This test was specifically designed for 15- to 18-year-olds;
The test covers the ten subjects included in the National Financial Literacy Framework and Standards and was written to measure 3 key areas: motivation to learn, subject knowledge, and recognition of the first action step. - High-School Financial Literacy Grade: Triple Weight (~11.84 Points)
Note: In order to achieve financially literate high school graduates, a state should have personal finance components embedded into K-12 standards, for each grade, and should ensure that each high school graduate has successfully completed a personal finance-specific course near the end of their secondary school career. - Share of Eighth Graders Proficient at Mathematics: Full Weight (~3.95 Points)
- Share of Public High School Students Who Are Guaranteed to Take at Least One Semester Course in Personal Finance Before Graduation: Triple Weight (~11.84 Points)
Note: This metric measures the share of the state’s public high schoolers who are guaranteed to take at least one semester course in Personal Finance before graduation in 2025. - Share of High Schools Ranked in Top 10% Nationally: Triple Weight (~11.84 Points)
Note: The top-ranked U.S. public schools in the U.S. News’ 2025 Best High Schools rankings are those whose students earned outstanding scores in math, reading and science state assessments; took and earned a qualifying score in an array of college-level exams; and graduated in high proportions.
Financial Education Growth – Total Points: 25
- Projected High-School Financial Literacy Grade by 2028: Full Weight (~16.67 Points)
- Change in the Share of Public High School Students Who Were Guaranteed to Take at Least One Semester Course in Personal Finance Before Graduation (2025 vs. 2024): Half Weight (~8.33 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected as of April 7, 2026 from the Council for Economic Education, National Financial Educators Council, American Public Education Foundation, National Center for Education Statistics, Next Gen Personal Finance, and U.S. News & World Report.
WalletHub's personal finance experts are frequently cited by leading media outlets. Contact our media team to arrange an interview.