This Massachusetts City Ranked Top 10 Nationwide in Money Management Skills
Hate or love it, we all know that money makes the world go round. Those who don't have it, desperately want it. Those who do have it can't seem to get enough.
Money management skills have a huge influence on our lives. Credit scores, income to debt ratio, and developing a budget are all life skills that can dictate where you work, where you live, what kind of car you drive and so much more.
I graduated high school 20 years ago (YIKES) and financial literacy was not taught in any capacity. There was zero public school education surrounding credit scores or student debt, two factors that greatly affect high school seniors as they turn 18 and head out into the world.
Recently, there has been a push for state-regulated educational standards to include financial education, however as of May 2022, only eight states require personal finance courses to be taught. Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia all have financial programs in place that high school students are required to take before they graduate.
According to Next Gen Person Finance, seven more states also have plans to institute the requirement in the next few years namely Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
Massachusetts, despite being one of the most educated states in the county, with some of the best public and private schools, still doesn't have financial literacy requirements for high school students. Regardless of that fact, one of the most financially savvy cities in the United States is located in the Bay State.
In a recent study from WalletHub, Lexington, Massachusetts was named one of the most financially savvy areas in the entire country. Reports ranked the small Boston suburb as the 10th most skilled municipal when it comes to money management.
Statistically speaking the historic city of 33,000 holds an average credit score of 782. The study also showed a variety of debt to income ratios; Lexington had a credit card debt to income ratio of 2.41%, a mortgage debt to income ratio of 351.47%, a motor vehicle loan debt to income ratio of 9.84%, and a student loan debt to income ratio of 20.7%.
Three hours south of Lexington, Scarsdale, New York took the best ranking for municipalities with the best money management skills in the U.S.
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