A great hook for students is being able to personalize data for an activity that helps them understand their community better and how it fits within a larger context. Here's an interactive from Urban Institute that shows county-level data for auto loans, student debt and medical debt (the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy). Here's the output for auto loan debt for San Benito, California:

Questions for students (and you can customize for your own county):

• How does your county compare with other counties in the state when it comes to auto loans? 
• Delinquency rate means that a borrower is late with a payment. Does the loan delinquency seem high or low to you?
• What type of borrower struggles the most (has the highest delinquency)? 
• Do you think having a rural population matters when it comes to auto loans? How? 

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Here's the student loan map for the United States (you can also get down to your county-level too):

Questions:

• What does the color on the map indicate? Which states do you think have the highest percentage of the population with student loans? 
• Do you think there is a relationship between the median amount of student debt and the percentage of student debt that is in collections (note that "in collections" means that several months have passed without a payment made by the borrower)? Explain? 
• Based on the information in the chart, what percentage of the U.S. population has a 4 year college degree (aka bachelor's degree)? 
• Do you think that the states with more college graduates will also have higher household income? Compare five states (including the one you live in) to see if that relationship holds?

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We have 40+ interactives like this in our Interactive Library. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.