States With the Best & Worst Budgeters (2026)
from Wallet Hub, Aug 31, 2026
With the cost of living having increased significantly over the past few years, proper budgeting is more essential now than ever. In light of this, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the States With the Best and Worst Budgeters in 2026, to show where Americans are being the most responsible with their finances and where they need to improve.
WalletHub compared the 50 states across 12 key metrics, ranging from the average credit score to debt-to-income ratios to foreclosure rates….
HAWAII
Hawaii is the state with the third-best budgeters, and it boasts the second-highest percentage of residents who set aside money for emergency/rainy day funds, at 52%. In addition to showing that people are being responsible by planning for unexpected situations, this indicates that Hawaii residents are not living paycheck to paycheck and are not spending all their excess money frivolously.
Hawaii also has the fourth-smallest share of people who only pay the minimum on their credit cards, at just 36%. Paying more than the minimum on a credit card reduces or eliminates interest, while helping to improve your credit score.
To top things off, Hawaii residents are good at budgeting housing expenses. The average housing expenses in the state are only over 1.4% of the median home price, the lowest percentage in the country.
Budgeters in Hawaii
Overall Rank: 3rd
(1=Best; 25=Avg.)
- 11th – Average Credit Score
- 30th – Non-Mortgage Debt as a Percentage of Income
- 9th – Foreclosure Rate
- 5th – Credit Utilization Percentage
- 1st – Housing Expenses as a Percentage of Median Home Price
- 1st – Percentage of Total Non-Housing Expenses to Median Income
For the full report, please visit: LINK
Key takeaways in video format.
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AI EXPLAINS: “The average housing expenses in the state are only over 1.4% of the median home price, the lowest percentage in the country.”
This statement likely references a metric measuring annual homeownership or budgeting costs relative to real estate values, which highlights a unique mathematical quirk in expensive real estate markets. [1, 2]
While it sounds like a reflection of affordability, this phenomenon is actually a direct byproduct of Hawaii having the most expensive home prices in the country. [1, 2]
The breakdown of this paradox reveals:
- The Math Behind the Percentage: When a state’s median home price is incredibly high—such as Hawaii’s median home price of $875,900—recurring annual expenses like property taxes represent a much smaller percentage of the total home value. [1, 2]
- The Nation's Lowest Property Tax Rate: Hawaii boasts the absolute lowest effective property tax rate in the United States, hovering around 0.27% to 0.29%. By comparison, a recent 2026 WalletHub study on budgeting notes that even highly ranked states see their total housing expenses skewed favorably when measured strictly as a percentage of their massive local home values. [1, 2, 3]
- The Cost of Living Reality: Do not confuse a low percentage with a low dollar amount. Because the underlying property values are so massive, Hawaii remains the most expensive state to live in, with a housing subindex that sits at roughly triple the national average. [1, 2, 3]