The most and least educated states across the US – new study

• Massachusetts is the most educated state- with 46% of its population over 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• New Jersey is the second most educated state- with 5.2 percent of its public students enrolled in gifted and talented programs.

A brand-new study from Teach Simple reveals the most and least educated states across the US.

The education experts have indexed each US state weighted by 18 different factors that would determine the standard of education across each US state.  

Each state receives an academic achievement score out of 100 and an overall index score out of 100. 

Indicating factors include: average ACT scores and average grade 8 scores in maths, English, science, reading, number of people in state-run adult education programs, library materials lent per capita in 2019, percentage of high school dropouts amongst 16-24 years old, percentage of 18–24-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary institutions, and percentage of the population over 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

The index reveals Massachusetts is the most educated state, achieving an academic score of 81.09 out of 100 and an overall index score of 74.87 out of 100. Massachusetts has the highest percentage of 18–24-year-olds enrolled in post-secondary institutions, at 51.78 percent. In addition 46 percent of its population over 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher and only 3.4 percent of people dropped out of high school.  

New Mexico is the least educated state, scoring an overall academic score of 14.21 out of 100, and an overall index score of 23.9 out of 100. New Mexico has the highest percentage of high school dropouts at 8.5 percent, and 30 percent of people over 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher.  

The rankings are as follows:

Most educated

The second most educated state is Connecticut, achieving an academic score of 64.88 out of 100 and an overall index score of 74.87 out of 100.

Connecticut has the second highest percentage for 18–24-year-olds enrolled in post-secondary institutions, at 49.56 percent. Connecticut’s public high school adjusted cohort graduation rates (ACGR) are 88 students per school- with the highest rate in the study being 92 students, in Iowa, and the lowest 73 students in District of Columbia.

The third best state for education is New Jersey, with an academic score of 69.28 out of 100 and an overall index score of 65.42 out of 100. In New Jersey, 5.2 percent of its public students are enrolled in gifted and talented programs. This is in comparison to Rhode Island, which only has 0.2 percent. In New Jersey, 3.25 percent are high school dropouts, whereas New Mexico has a rate of 8.51 percent.

New Jersey thrives particularly for its higher education, scoring 72.55 out of 100 and its public high school adjusted cohort graduation rates (ACGR) are 91 students per school. 

Utah is the fourth most educated state, with an academic index achievement of 65.44 out of 100 and an overall index score of 63.04 out of 100. In Utah, 39.77 percent of its students ages 18-24 are enrolled in post-secondary education and 5.4 percent of students are enrolled in gifted and talented programs.  

Ranking in the top five for education is Virginia, with 66.40 out of 100 for its academic score and 62.90 out of 100 overall. Virginia has an average of 123 people out of 100,000 residents in state-run adult education programs and an impressive 13.5 percent of people enrolled in gifted and talented programs.  

Cole Vineyard, Founder of Teach Simple has commented on the study findings:

“Education is extremely beneficial for economic success. Individuals with higher levels of education will have access to better job opportunities, higher salaries, and greater job security.

“In 2022, Massachusetts had 896,103 students enrolled in a total of 1,751 schools in 316 school districts. Our data reveals Massachusetts achieved the highest average NAEP Grade-8 Mathematics score in the study, at 283.

“The pandemic has had a significant impact on education across the US and recent reports revealed that since the pandemic, an estimated 50,000 students were missing from any kind of U.S. school.

“Therefore, teachers across the country face a huge responsibility of educating the next generation, and with more resources and support, the more achievable this will be.”