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Only 27% Of U.S. Adults Can Pass This Basic Money Quiz. How Do You Score?
By Adam Hardy MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Find out which states did best on FINRA’s financial literacy quiz.
America’s financial literacy report card is in, and the results aren’t good.
Only 27% of U.S. adults passed a seven-question quiz about basic financial concepts, according to results from the FINRA Foundation’s latest National Financial Capability Study. The multiple-choice quiz tests general knowledge of inflation, interest rates and probabilities without the need for complicated math.
“Knowledge of everyday financial concepts remains a challenge for many Americans,” said Gerri Walsh, president of the FINRA Foundation, in a statement.
The foundation, which is the education arm of FINRA, the financial industry’s self-regulatory body, has conducted the wide-ranging study every three years since 2009.
This year, the average score on the quiz was just 3.3 out of 7. In school terms, that’s about 47%, or an F. Only in 2009 did the average score equate to a passing grade. Then, the average number of correct answers was 3 out of 5, for a grade of 60% — barely a D.
The preliminary survey results released this month include only the scores for the financial literacy quiz. The remaining study, which includes a questionnaire on Americans’ financial situation and preferences from more than 25,000 adults, is slated for release in July.
The smartest states in the U.S. for financial literacy
FINRA Foundation’s sprawling survey includes at least 500 responses from each state. A breakdown of answers by state shows stark differences — with Minnesota barely edging out Wisconsin for the No.1 spot. In both states, more than 1 in 3 residents passed FINRA’s quiz.
On the other hand, Mississippi and Louisiana have the lowest share of residents who passed — both below 20%.
Here’s a look at how every state performed.
State (top 25) | Percentage who answered at least five questions correctly | State (bottom 25) | Percentage who answered at least five questions correctly |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Minnesota | 34.8% | 26. Ohio | 28.9% |
2. Wisconsin | 34.5% | 27. South Carolina | 28% |
3. Colorado | 33.9% | 28. Pennsylvania | 27.8% |
4. Wyoming | 33.8% | 29. New Jersey | 27.8% |
5. Washington | 32.5% | 30. Maryland | 27.6% |
6. Vermont | 32.3% | 31. Texas | 27.3% |
7. North Dakota | 32% | 32. Oklahoma | 26.9% |
8. Oregon | 31.9% | 33. Illinois | 26.6% |
9. Kansas | 31.4% | 34. Kentucky | 26.2% |
10. Hawaii | 31.3% | 35. Rhode Island | 26.1% |
11. Iowa | 31.2% | 36. Florida | 25.7% |
12. California | 31.1% | 37. Michigan | 25.6% |
13. New Hampshire | 30.8% | 38. Georgia | 25.5% |
14. Montana | 30.7% | 39. Nevada | 25.4% |
15. South Dakota | 30.4% | 40. New York | 25.2% |
16. Maine | 30% | 41. Tennessee | 25.2% |
17. Missouri | 29.8% | 42. Arizona | 24.4% |
18. Alaska | 29.5% | 43. Arkansas | 24.2% |
19. Idaho | 29.4% | 44. North Carolina | 24% |
20. Delaware | 29.3% | 45. Indiana | 23,9% |
21. Virginia | 29% | 46. New Mexico | 23.2% |
22. Connecticut | 28.9% | 47. West Virginia | 21.4% |
23. Massachusetts | 28.9% | 48. Alabama | 20.2% |
24. Utah | 28.7% | 49. Mississippi | 19.2% |
25. Nebraska | 28.6% | 50. Louisiana | 18.1% |
Think you can do better? Take the quiz yourself.
One bright spot is that, compared to previous quizzes, respondents this time showed “significant improvement” on the question related to inflation, FINRA said.
The question reads: “Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account is 1% a year and inflation is 2% a year. After one year, would the money in the account buy more than it does today, exactly the same or less than today?” The multiple choice answers are: more, less, same, or I don’t know.
This year, a high of 58% answered correctly, “likely reflecting the impact of lived experience as well as increased focus on the topic,” Walsh said.
According to FINRA’s past studies, respondents who do well on the quiz typically manage their finances better than those who don’t score as highly — particularly when it comes to habits related to saving, spending and managing debt.
America’s struggle with basic financial literacy has fueled a call for more personal finance education in the classroom. According to the Council for Economic Education, 35 states now require students to take a course in personal finance to graduate.
Proponents of personal finance education in schools hope the classes will translate into financially informed adults. However, recent studies suggest the newly acquired financial knowledge doesn’t always translate into better financial habits.
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Adam Hardy is Money's lead data journalist. He writes news and feature stories aimed at helping everyday people manage their finances. He joined Money full-time in 2021 but has covered personal finance and economic topics since 2018. Previously, he worked for Forbes Advisor, The Penny Hoarder and Creative Loafing. In addition to those outlets, Adam’s work has been featured in a variety of local, national and international publications, including the Asia Times, Business Insider, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Yahoo! Finance, Nasdaq and several others. Adam graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida, where he studied magazine journalism and sociology. As a first-generation college graduate from a low-income, single-parent household, Adam understands firsthand the financial barriers that plague low-income Americans. His reporting aims to illuminate these issues. Since joining Money, Adam has already written over 300 articles, including a cover story on financial surveillance, a profile of Director Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and an investigation into flexible spending accounts, which found that workers forfeit billions of dollars annually through the workplace plans. He has also led data analysis on some of Money’s marquee rankings, including Best Places to Live, Best Places to Travel and Best Hospitals. He regularly contributes data reporting for Best Colleges, Best Banks and other lists as well. Adam also holds a multimedia storytelling certificate from Poynter’s News University and a data journalism certificate from the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) at the University of Missouri. In 2017, he received an English teaching certification from the University of Cambridge, which he utilized during his time in Seoul, South Korea. There, he taught students of all ages, from 5 to 65, and worked with North Korean refugees who were resettling in the area. Now, Adam lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, with his pup Bambi. He is a card-carrying shuffleboard club member.