About half (54%) of U.S. adults say they have a great amount of financial knowledge or a fair amount. Another 33% say they know some about personal finances, while 13% say they don’t know much or know nothing at all, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey.
Knowledge about personal finances can refer to several strategies for managing money, including saving, budgeting, managing debt or investing.
Financial literacy has been associated with greater financial well-being. There have long been economic gaps between Americans of different backgrounds, and our survey also finds gaps in financial literacy:
Americans in households with upper incomes (72%) are more likely than those in households with middle (56%) or lower incomes (42%) to say they know at least a fair amount about personal finances.
White adults (58%) are more likely than Black (50%) or Hispanic (41%) adults to say they know a great deal or fair amount. About half of Asian adults (49%) say the same. These differences by race remain regardless of income.
Adults ages 50 and older (63%) are more likely than those 18 to 49 (45%) to say they are knowledgeable about personal finances.
On the other hand, about one-in-five Americans with lower incomes (22%) say they don’t know much or know nothing at all about personal finances. That’s a notably higher share than among those with upper incomes (4%). About a quarter of Hispanic adults (27%) say the same, higher than among Asian (17%), Black (14%) or White adults (8%).
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