Location, location, location. It works for real estate, but it apparently also works for financial acumen.

That's according to GOBankingRates.com, which went to all the trouble of checking out every state in the Union, along with D.C., to determine how each area ranked in each of three categories: use of banking services, saving and investing behaviors, and financial education policies.

Data came from a range of sources, including the FDIC, FINRA, the Urban Institutes, and the Council for Economic Education. States were evaluated on several factors:

• the number of unbanked/underbanked households

• households reporting spending below, at, or above their earnings

• delinquent debt and debt in collection

• the use of alternative financial services

• investments in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds

• the number of households having emergency funds

• the number of households having retirement accounts

• the number of households declaring bankruptcy

Here are the 10 most money-savvy states in the survey.