This paper investigates the intersection of behavioral finance and financial literacy across various income groups, with a particular emphasis on how disparities in financial knowledge influence personal financial behaviors and contribute to broader patterns of economic inequality. Although financial literacy is widely associated with improved financial decision-making and long-term financial outcomes, significant literacy gaps persist along socioeconomic lines. These disparities are often rooted in unequal access to quality education, financial resources, and institutional support systems, which collectively shape individuals’ ability to navigate complex financial decisions. Employing a data-driven methodology, this study examines the extent to which core behavioral finance tendencies such as saving and spending habits, risk tolerance, debt management, and investment behavior are influenced by levels of financial literacy across distinct income brackets. The research draws upon a combination of existing academic literature, publicly available datasets, and an original survey instrument to provide a comprehensive and empirically grounded analysis of how financial behaviors and literacy are interrelated. The study further investigates whether specific behavioral patterns can serve as indicators or predictors of financial literacy gaps and how these insights may guide the design of more effective educational initiatives or policy interventions. The unique contribution of this study lies in its integration of behavioral data with literacy metrics across income strata, offering a nuanced perspective on how targeted financial education and behavioral incentives can address inequality. This approach allows for a deeper understanding of how financial decision-making is shaped not only by what individuals know, but also by the context in which they act. This research aims to inform people about the development of scalable, data-informed strategies that empower individuals across all income levels to make more informed and autonomous financial decisions.

Keywords: Behavioral finance, data-driven analysis, debt management, financial decision-making, financial literacy, income inequality, investment behavior, risk tolerance, socioeconomic disparities, education, SQL database, survey research.