Here Are the Most, Least Educated States in America

Massachusetts comes out on top
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2021 8:38 AM CST
Here Are the Most, Least Educated States in America
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Wavebreakmedia)

Schooling has been upended during the coronavirus pandemic, but education remains paramount for future opportunities, so WalletHub took a look to see which states offer the best chance at becoming an egghead. The site examined all 50 states across 18 metrics in two main categories: educational attainment, which includes the share of adults who've attained high school diplomas or college degrees; and quality of education and attainment gap, which factors in everything from blue-ribbon schools per capita and the average quality of each state's universities, to high school graduation rates. Read on for the top and bottom 10 states:

Most Educated

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Maryland
  3. Connecticut
  4. Vermont
  5. Colorado
  6. Virginia
  7. New Jersey
  8. New Hampshire
  9. Minnesota
  10. Washington

Least Educated

  1. New Mexico
  2. South Carolina
  3. Nevada
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Kentucky
  6. Alabama
  7. Arkansas
  8. Louisiana
  9. Mississippi
  10. West Virginia

See how your state ranks. (Here, the states with the best school systems.)

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