20 Most Searched Financial Terms in the US

John Csiszar

Sun, May 11, 2025, 8:01 AM 4 min read

A study by the accounting experts at Avenues Financial revealed that Americans are hungering for financial literacy.

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Using the Google Keyword Planner, Avenues Financial analyzed every term in the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s “Glossary of Financial Terms” to discover which topics were the most searched for by Americans. The study also broke down those searches by state.

Here are some of the highlighted results from the study, along with an explanation of some of the searched terms by co-founder and CFO of Avenues Financial, Nicole Jensen, CPA.

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According to the study, here are the most-searched financial terms in the United States:

• FAFSA

• Credit card

• Capital

• Stock

• Interest rate

• Equity

• Annual percentage rate

• Mortgage

• Asset

• Annuities

• Collateral

• Ponzi schemes

• Credit

• Arbitration

• Forbearance

• Money market account

• Liability

• Delinquency

• Amortization

• Lien

One of the most interesting discoveries in the study was that there were more than 3.38 million monthly searches for the most-searched term: FAFSA. That equates to more than one search every second of every day — financial aid for students is a common need.

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According to the study, these are the top 10 states when it comes to financial searches on a per-capita basis:

1. Maryland

2. Virginia

3. New York

4. California

5. Massachusetts

6. Texas

7. Georgia

8. Nevada

9. New Jersey

10. Florida

Of course, as the most-populous states, California and Texas dominate the search rankings in an absolute sense. But Maryland tops the charts on a per-capita basis.

Based on the results of the study, Jensen took the time to elaborate on the definitions of some of the more obscure financial terms searched for by Americans. Here’s what the financial expert had to say.

“Capital can be most simply described as the money and other items [that] hold value that a person or organization owns,” Jensen explained. “These can include financial assets like cash, stocks and bonds … but ‘capital’ can also include tangible assets, such as equipment or facilities, rather than purely monetary assets.”

“Annual percentage rate, or as it is more commonly known, APR, is a percentage [that] represents the real yearly cost of borrowing money, such as taking out a loan or a credit card,” Jensen said. “This amount encompasses the cost of both the borrowing fees and interest on the loan.”