By Stephanie Mevius
Las Vegas Valley residents rank among the bottom of the nation for debt ratios, financial literacy, and money management skills, according to new data. In a recent report released by personal finance website WalletHub, Las Vegas and its neighboring cities (Henderson and North Las Vegas) all rank near the bottom out of 2,572 cities in terms of debt ratios, credit scores, and financial management skills in the U.S. Residents were found to have mortgage-to-income ratios upwards of 400%, an average of 4 late payments, and median credit scores ranging from 632 (North Las Vegas) to 646 (Las Vegas) to 684 (Henderson).
These bottom of the barrel scores indicate a serious problem in the Valley’s financial education system. More importantly, they indicate a lack of financial education in a state which already ranks at the bottom for education (in fact, WalletHub ranks Nevada as the 7th least educated state) in general. When we look on a more narrow scope, the state of Nevada is ranked 50th out of 51 states overall in terms of financial literacy.
What must be looked at now is what can be done to improve the financial literacy of our community. Andson is making great strides in the effort to empower through education with our Andson Money, Andson Academics, and Piggy Bank programs. We serve thousands of students (68,000 since our start) across Clark County and find proven results from our work. Still, the fact remains that there is much work to be done to educate and better our community in a lasting way. It is thanks to our donors and community partners that we have achieved our success so far, and we look eagerly toward a better, more financially-literate future.