Educational Attainment by State

Map

Table

Introduction

Education is often a large factor in the determination of how developed a country is. Education directly correlates with median incomes; on average, the more educated one is, the higher their average salary typically is. According to the Census Bureau, those with only a high school diploma have the lowest median income while staying above the poverty line. 

While educational attainment is based on multiple factors, socio-economic status is one of the chief factors determining how much education a person will receive. For primary education, those of lower socio-economic means historically would not graduate so they could join the workforce and provide for the family as early as they could. Meanwhile, for secondary education, rising tuition costs lead many students to face the difficult situation of not being able to afford higher education, leading them to either not pursue higher education, or take out a loan for thousands of dollars in the hopes of receiving a degree.

Learn for yourself how education attainment differs by state by browsing the data in the charts.

#StateNo High School Diploma RateHigh School Graduation Rate
1Montana6%86.6%
2Wyoming6.4%82.1%
3Vermont6.5%84.5%
4Minnesota6.7%83.7%
5New Hampshire6.7%88.4%
6Maine6.8%87.4%
7Alaska6.9%80.4%
8North Dakota6.9%88.3%
9Utah7%87.4%
10Wisconsin7.4%90.1%
11Iowa7.5%91.6%
12Hawaii7.6%85.2%
13South Dakota7.8%84.1%
14Colorado7.9%81.1%
15District of Columbia8.1%68.9%
16Washington8.3%81.1%
17Nebraska8.4%88.4%
18Idaho8.7%80.8%
19Kansas8.7%87.2%
20Michigan8.7%81.4%
21Oregon8.8%80%
22Massachusetts8.9%88%
23Pennsylvania9%86.5%
24Connecticut9.1%88.5%
25Ohio9.2%82%
26Delaware9.4%89%
27Missouri9.4%89.7%
28Maryland9.5%86.9%
29Virginia9.7%87.5%
30New Jersey9.8%90.6%
31Illinois10.3%86.2%
32Indiana10.7%87.2%
33Rhode Island10.8%83.9%
34Florida11.5%87.2%
35North Carolina11.5%86.5%
36Oklahoma11.5%84.9%
37South Carolina11.7%81.1%
38Tennessee11.8%90.5%
39Arizona12.1%77.8%
40Georgia12.2%82%
41West Virginia12.4%91.3%
42Arkansas12.8%87.6%
43Kentucky12.8%90.6%
44New York12.8%82.8%
45Nevada13%84.1%
46Alabama13.1%91.7%
47New Mexico13.5%75.1%
48Louisiana14.2%80.1%
49Mississippi14.7%85%
50Texas15.6%90%
51California16.1%84.5%

No High School Diploma Rate by State

Alabama

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13.1%

Ranked in the US

#46

Ranked in the US

#1

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Alaska

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6.9%

Ranked in the US

#7

Ranked in the US

#46

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Arizona

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12.1%

Ranked in the US

#39

Ranked in the US

#49

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Arkansas

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12.8%

Ranked in the US

#42

Ranked in the US

#16

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

California

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16.1%

Ranked in the US

#51

Ranked in the US

#31

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Colorado

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7.9%

Ranked in the US

#14

Ranked in the US

#42

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Connecticut

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9.1%

Ranked in the US

#24

Ranked in the US

#11

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Delaware

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9.4%

Ranked in the US

#26

Ranked in the US

#10

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

District of Columbia

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8.1%

Ranked in the US

#15

Ranked in the US

#51

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Florida

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11.5%

Ranked in the US

#34

Ranked in the US

#20

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Georgia

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12.2%

Ranked in the US

#40

Ranked in the US

#39

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Hawaii

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7.6%

Ranked in the US

#12

Ranked in the US

#28

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Idaho

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8.7%

Ranked in the US

#18

Ranked in the US

#45

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Illinois

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10.3%

Ranked in the US

#31

Ranked in the US

#27

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Indiana

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10.7%

Ranked in the US

#32

Ranked in the US

#21

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Iowa

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7.5%

Ranked in the US

#11

Ranked in the US

#2

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Kansas

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8.7%

Ranked in the US

#19

Ranked in the US

#22

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Kentucky

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12.8%

Ranked in the US

#43

Ranked in the US

#4

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Louisiana

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14.2%

Ranked in the US

#48

Ranked in the US

#47

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Maine

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6.8%

Ranked in the US

#6

Ranked in the US

#18

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Maryland

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9.5%

Ranked in the US

#28

Ranked in the US

#23

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Massachusetts

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8.9%

Ranked in the US

#22

Ranked in the US

#15

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Michigan

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8.7%

Ranked in the US

#20

Ranked in the US

#41

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Minnesota

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6.7%

Ranked in the US

#4

Ranked in the US

#36

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Mississippi

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14.7%

Ranked in the US

#49

Ranked in the US

#29

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Missouri

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9.4%

Ranked in the US

#27

Ranked in the US

#9

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Montana

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6%

Ranked in the US

#1

Ranked in the US

#24

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Nebraska

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8.4%

Ranked in the US

#17

Ranked in the US

#12

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Nevada

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13%

Ranked in the US

#45

Ranked in the US

#33

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

New Hampshire

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6.7%

Ranked in the US

#5

Ranked in the US

#13

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

New Jersey

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9.8%

Ranked in the US

#30

Ranked in the US

#5

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

New Mexico

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13.5%

Ranked in the US

#47

Ranked in the US

#50

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

New York

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12.8%

Ranked in the US

#44

Ranked in the US

#37

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

North Carolina

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11.5%

Ranked in the US

#35

Ranked in the US

#25

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

North Dakota

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6.9%

Ranked in the US

#8

Ranked in the US

#14

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Ohio

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9.2%

Ranked in the US

#25

Ranked in the US

#40

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Oklahoma

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11.5%

Ranked in the US

#36

Ranked in the US

#30

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Oregon

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8.8%

Ranked in the US

#21

Ranked in the US

#48

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Pennsylvania

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9%

Ranked in the US

#23

Ranked in the US

#26

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Rhode Island

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10.8%

Ranked in the US

#33

Ranked in the US

#35

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

South Carolina

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11.7%

Ranked in the US

#37

Ranked in the US

#43

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

South Dakota

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7.8%

Ranked in the US

#13

Ranked in the US

#34

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Tennessee

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11.8%

Ranked in the US

#38

Ranked in the US

#6

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Texas

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15.6%

Ranked in the US

#50

Ranked in the US

#8

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Utah

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7%

Ranked in the US

#9

Ranked in the US

#19

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Vermont

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6.5%

Ranked in the US

#3

Ranked in the US

#32

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Virginia

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9.7%

Ranked in the US

#29

Ranked in the US

#17

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Washington

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8.3%

Ranked in the US

#16

Ranked in the US

#44

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

West Virginia

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12.4%

Ranked in the US

#41

Ranked in the US

#3

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate

Wisconsin

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7.4%

Ranked in the US

#10

Ranked in the US

#7

No High School Diploma Rate

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Wyoming

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6.4%

Ranked in the US

#2

Ranked in the US

#38

No High School Diploma Rate

High School Graduation Rate