This Small Minnesota Town Is Among The Best In The Country At Budgeting

With prices rising and rising, it is more important than ever to make a budget- and stick to it! In fact, nearly 70% of Americans say that balancing their personal budget is one of their top priorities for 2025.

Financial website WalletHub looked into the budgets of the residents of 2,800 US counties and found that a small county in Northern Minnesota is among the best in the US at budgeting.

Using factors like share of households without a bank account, credit card delinquency rate and households with 'zero net worth,' WalletHub set out to determine who was the best at budgeting.

“Although inflation has experienced a general downward trend over the past year, it’s started to rise again during the past few months, and many Americans are still struggling financially," said Chip Lupo of WalletHub. "As a result, it’s extremely important to have good budgeting skills in order to make sure all your essential expenses get paid while still leaving room for saving, debt payoff, and at least a few ‘wants’ to maintain your mental health.”

The top United States counties for budgeting were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Clear Creek, Colorado and Morgan, Utah. Finishing just outside of the top five was sixth-place Lake County, Minnesota.

Lake County, whose city seat is Two Harbors, ranks particularly highly due to a low amount of debt, lack of delinquent accounts and a strong number of savings/financial assets.

Washington County finished a bit further down the list but landed a 12th overall finish (out of 2,800) counties in the "savings and financial assets" category.

Locally, Stearns County finished in the 79th percentile overall. Stearns residents ranked 517th in the "savings/financial assets" category and 1,088th in the "debt/delinquency" category.