Around 69% of Americans with a budget cite increasing costs as the biggest challenge they currently face when trying to stick to a budget, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub’s 2024 Budgeting Survey, released today. Alongside this survey, WalletHub today released its report on 2024’s Cities with the Best and Worst Budgeters, to congratulate those handling their finances well and shine a light on the places that need to improve.
To determine where the best budgeters live, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 12 key metrics, ranging from the average credit score to debt-to-income ratios to foreclosure rates.
| Cities With Worst Budgeters | Cities With Worst Budgeters |
| 1. Seattle, WA | 173. Toledo, OH |
| 2. Honolulu, HI | 174. Huntington, WV |
| 3. Boston, MA | 175. Tulsa, OK |
| 4. Fremont, CA | 176. Augusta, GA |
| 5. San Francisco, CA | 177. Memphis, TN |
| 6. Madison, WI | 178. Shreveport, LA |
| 7. San Diego, CA | 179. Mobile, AL |
| 8. Vancouver, WA | 180. Montgomery, AL |
| 9. Minneapolis, MN | 181. Gulfport, MS |
| 10. Huntington Beach, CA | 182. Jackson, MS |
2024 Budgeting Survey
- Inflation difficulties: 69% of Americans with a budget cite increasing costs as the biggest challenge they currently face when trying to stick to a budget.
- Expensive safety net: Nearly 2 in 5 Americans use a credit card to cover extra expenses if they go over their budget.
- Need for budgeting classes: 94% of Americans think budgeting should be taught in high school.
- Liar liar, budget on fire: Nearly 1 in 5 people admit they are not honest with themselves when making a budget.
- Budgeting and relationships: 23% of Americans think couples should budget separately rather than jointly.
- Reluctant budgeters: 27% of people would rather do their laundry than make a budget, while 20% would rather clean their house, and 16% would prefer to do their taxes.
Key takeaways and WalletHub commentary are included below in text and video format, along with this video summarizing the survey findings. Feel free to use the provided content as is or edit the raw files as you see fit.
