Florida Financial Literacy Statistics
The Florida Financial Educators Council carries out continuing research and compiles data to report an accurate picture of the current condition of financial wellness across the Sunshine State. On this page, Florida-specific financial literacy statistics give organizations, researchers, and interested individuals updated data and information about Florida financial literacy to help push the movement forward.
Cost of Financial Illiteracy Survey
Floridians report that lack of financial knowledge carries a high cost, according to this 2022 survey. Participants across the state responded to the single question: “During the past year (2022), about how much money do you think you lost because you lacked knowledge about personal finances?” The results are shown below. Interestingly, almost 13% of survey respondents believed they had lost $10,000 or more in the past year due to financial illiteracy.
Cost of Financial Illiteracy
$0 – $499
$500 – $999
$1,000 – $2,499
$2,500 – $9,999
$10,000 +
Recent data underscores that many Floridians suffer from financial vulnerabilities. For example, according to Feeding America, 1 in every 9 of all Florida residents and 1 in every 6 children in the Sunshine State experience hunger – translating to almost 2.3 million Floridians who struggle to put food on the table. More than a third (38.3%) of Florida households that receive money from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have children.
Like many Southern states, Florida also has housing challenges. A 2021 study by the Center for Economic Policy and Research found that 27.3% of Floridians faced housing insecurity as of that year, with 18% of Florida homeowners reporting being at risk of mortgage foreclosure. Housing insecurity is defined as lack of security in one’s shelter as a result of high housing costs relative to income, poor housing quality, unstable neighborhoods, overcrowding, and/or homelessness.
Financial Situation Data
Debt Load Rates
$89,195 Average Florida Consumer Debt (all sources combined) in 2022.
Credit card balances in Florida averaged $6,408 in 2022, according to credit rating agency Experian. Experian also reported that the average Floridian had an auto loan balance of $21,341 (2021), outstanding student loan balance of $41,300 (2021), and owed $227,216 on a home mortgage (2022).
Personal Credit Score
The Experian 2022 Consumer Debt Review reported that the average FICO® credit score among Floridians was 707 that year, compared with a national average of 714. Using VantageScore® calculations from February 2021, Equifax found that the Florida average credit score was 689, with a national average of 698. The median credit scores of five mid- to large-sized Florida cities according to WalletHub are shown at right.
Florida Financial Literacy Legislation & Educational Stats
The National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education collects the Common Core of Data (CCD) which reflect the status of education by state. The CCD shows that Florida had 4,191 total public schools in 2021-2022, about 4% of the total 99,271 operating schools across the U.S. As of that year, the Sunshine State also had 2.83 million students and 159,866 total full-time teachers, making the state’s student-to-teacher ratio 17.72.
In March 2023 Florida’s state legislature passed a bill designating April as Financial Literacy Month. This legislation came on the heels of the Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act enacted the previous year, which requires high school students to pass a one-half-credit financial literacy class in order to earn a standard diploma. That mandate went into effect for the 2023-2024 school year.