Arkansas Financial Literacy Statistics
The Arkansas Financial Educators Council (AFEC) compiles and updates data that capture the financial well-being of Arkansans. The resulting financial literacy statistics for Arkansas are displayed on this webpage and revised as conditions evolve. This information is maintained as a resource for legislators, researchers, organizations, and interested individuals to inform efforts that promote, shape, enact, and support financial education policy. Together, these statistics contribute to strengthening the financial wellness movement throughout the state.
Cost of Financial Illiteracy Survey
Arkansans report that lack of financial knowledge carries a high cost, according to the NFEC’s most recent survey. Participants across the state responded to the single question: “During the past year, about how much money do you think you lost because you lacked knowledge about personal finances?” The results are shown below. Since 2017, the NFEC has conducted this annual survey, consistently revealing that the average individual cost of financial illiteracy approaches or exceeds $1,000 per person – with estimated national losses reaching into the hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and losses in the hundreds of millions across Arkansas.
Cost of Financial Illiteracy
$0 – $499
$500 – $999
$1,000 – $2,499
$2,500 – $9,999
$10,000 +
Financial Vulnerabilities Among Arkansans
Food insecurity and housing insecurity are two important measures that assess financial vulnerability in America. As reported by the nonprofit group Feeding America, hunger represents a significant problem in Arkansas with one in five state residents facing food insecurity – a total 592,860 people, 19% of the state population. One in every four children in the state is experiencing hunger, a total of 167,940. Feeding America estimates that over $361 million would be required annually to meet the food needs of these hungry Arkansans.
The World Population Review (WPR) reported on housing insecurity state-by-state in 2024. Their data indicate that 2,783 individuals were unhoused across Arkansas that year, for a homeless rate of 9%. WPR’s homeless count includes all individuals who live in a temporary shelter or transitional housing or sleep in a place not meant for habitation (such as an abandoned building).
Arkansas Residents’ Financial Situations
Average Total Consumer Debt
Total consumer debt in the United States rose above $18.3 trillion as of Q4 2025, underscoring the significance of this problem nationwide. In data compiled by Experian, Arkansans with consumer debt held an average balance of $74,716 in 2025, and that figure had not changed from the 2024 estimate. Although the Arkansas calculation may seem high, it sits well below the national average of $104,755.
Debt Statistics by Specific Category
As of 2026, the World Population Review placed the average balance among Arkansans with student loan debt at $33,333 – and the total outstanding student loan debt in the entire state at $13 billion. Further research from WalletHub estimates the average Arkansas credit card debt at $6,104 in 2026. Additional data from the World Population Review show that, in 2024, the average amount owed on a mortgage in the Natural State was $24,550.
Arkansas Financial Literacy Legislation and Education Statistics
To quantify numbers of school districts, teachers, and students in American states, the National Education Association (NEA) publishes a periodic report summarizing those data. The most recent NEA report (2025) indicates that during the 2023-2024 academic year, Arkansas had 260 operating public school districts with total student enrollment of 474,823. With a total of 31,958 teachers employed by the districts, those figures extrapolate to a ratio of 14.9 students for every teacher.
Legislation related to financial literacy education in Arkansas schools was first enacted in 2004 when Act 42 (Senate Bill 41) amended the state code to add a “Personal Finance” section in which “the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Workforce Education, subject to the approval of the state board, shall develop personal finance course content guidelines and recommend textbooks to be used in a personal finance course.” In 2017, Act 480 (House Bill 1442) was enacted, mandating that “The Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Career Education and subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, shall develop personal and family finance standards” and that “each public high school student shall be required before graduation to earn a credit in a course take in grade ten, grade eleven, or grade twelve that includes the personal and family finance standards.” This policy means that, beginning with the graduating class of 2021, Arkansas students must have completed a one-half credit in Economics and Personal Finance as well as “earn a credit in a course that includes personal and family finance in grade 9-12” in order to graduate from high school.