Louisiana Ranked as Hardest Place to Save Money

Forbes Advisor has released a new study, ranking states by how difficult it is to save money as a resident of each respective state. According to the original research, the national personal savings rate has decreased from 20% in 2020 to 3.8% as of January 2024. The ranking for each state, plus the District of Columbia, is determined based on indicators in these key categories: income, debt, cost of living, taxes, and housing.

The research also expanded to include the 15 largest cities and their metropolitan areas in their list of hardest cities to save money in. Residents of these major cities have the hardest out of all when putting money away for later.

Most Difficult Cites To Save Money

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
Miami-Fort Lauderdale- Pompano Beach, Florida
New Work City-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania
Atlanta-Sandy Springs- Alpharetta, Georgia

In the 15 hardest cities to save money list in list, Louisiana didn't have any cities make the list. But on the list of 50 states plus Washington D.C. Louisiana made it into the top 10 states where it's hardest for residents to save money.

Most Difficult States To Save Money

California
Hawaii
Nevada
Oregon
Maryland
Florida
New York
South Carolina
Colorado
Louisiana

At the other end of the list, the top 10 states where it's easiest to save money may be surprising to some.

Easiest States To Save Money

North Dakota
South Dakota
Kansas
Missouri
Iowa
Wisconsin
Nebraska
West Virginia
Wyoming
Ohio

Comparing Louisiana to North Dakota sheds some light on why it's much more difficult to stow away funds here in the boot state. According to Forbes Advisor's research Louisiananians spend 21.31% of their income on housing while North Dakotans spend only 14.39% of their income on housing. Louisiana also has a higher effective income tax rate of 14.09% compared to North Dakota's 12.04%.