Financial Literacy in Scranton, AR
With a population of roughly 260, Scranton, Arkansas is the 343rd-largest of 500 incorporated places in Arkansas. The population has grown 8.8% since 2020, a pace fast enough to reshape who lives there, from 239 to 260. The median age is 30.7, young enough that a large share of residents are making first-time decisions about credit, leases and retirement accounts.
17.1% of Scranton residents 25 and older have completed a bachelor's degree or more. That runs 3 points above the Arkansas average of 14.1%. Put the other way round: of the 146 adults 25 and over counted in the 2019–2023 ACS, roughly 121 — 82.9% — are building their financial lives without a four-year degree behind them.
The typical household here earns $75,000 a year. That is $27,500 above the Arkansas median. About 14.7% of residents live below the poverty line. The median home is valued at $115,000, roughly 1.5× median household income.
Scranton by the numbers
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Population (2024) | 260 |
| Change since 2020 | +8.8% |
| Median household income | $75,000 |
| Adults 25+ with a bachelor’s degree | 17.1% |
| Adults 25+ with a high school diploma | 89.7% |
| Median age | 30.7 |
| Poverty rate | 14.7% |
| Unemployment rate | 0.7% |
| Median home value | $115,000 |
| Land area | 0.506 sq mi |
| Population density | 514 / sq mi |
What Arkansas teaches — and to whom
Arkansas requires personal finance instruction, but folds it into another course rather than a class of its own — so how much a student actually gets depends heavily on the district and the teacher. Coverage like that varies enormously between districts, and it reaches no one who has already graduated.
LearnLife organises this the way the decisions actually arrive: Legal literacy — leases, contracts, employment rights and what a signature actually commits you to; Money — budgeting, credit, debt and taxes — the mechanics nobody is formally taught; Emotional regulation — the self-management that decides whether the other skills ever get used.
Where to start in Scranton
Get the first-decade decisions right
A median age of 30.7 means a large share of Scranton is making decisions with thirty-year consequences: the first credit card, the first lease, whether to take the employer match. These are cheap to get right now and expensive to unwind later.
Know the newcomer paperwork
Scranton has grown 8.8% since 2020. Fast in-migration means a lot of residents are navigating a new state's rules at once — registration and licensing deadlines, residency for tax purposes, and lease terms that differ from wherever they moved from.
Questions people ask about Scranton
Do high school students in Scranton, Arkansas have to take a personal finance class?
Arkansas requires personal finance content, but delivers it inside another course rather than a dedicated class, so the depth varies by district and teacher.
How many adults in Scranton, Arkansas have a college degree?
17.1% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, based on the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. The remaining 82.9% are managing their finances without one.
What is the median household income in Scranton, Arkansas?
$75,000, per the Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey.
Where can adults in Scranton, Arkansas learn personal finance?
Graduation requirements only ever reach people still in school. For adults, LearnLife covers the same ground on demand — money, legal literacy and the self-management that decides whether either gets used.
Start with whichever one is costing you money right now.
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