This State Is America's Smartest

Massachusetts is most educated, per WalletHub ranking; West Virginia is least
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 14, 2022 10:50 AM CST
Here Are the Most, Least Educated States
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Rattankun Thongbun)

Schools have taken a big hit during the pandemic, with continual disruptions to in-person learning in elementary and secondary schools and colleges across the nation. Still, as WalletHub notes, "amid these struggles, some states are able to provide safe, quality education more than others." To find out which ones, the site analyzed 18 metrics in two main categories: educational attainment, which looked at the share of adults ages 25 and older who've graduated from high school, attended some college, or earned a university or professional degree; and quality of education (ie, the quality of local schools and colleges, high school graduation rates, and racial and gender gaps in educational attainment). Massachusetts comes out on top of WalletHub's list, while West Virginia is at the bottom. See where other states ranked:

Most Educated

  1. Massachusetts (No. 1 in "Educational Attainment" category)
  2. Maryland (No. 1 in "Quality of Education" category)
  3. Connecticut
  4. Colorado
  5. Vermont
  6. New Jersey
  7. Virginia
  8. New Hampshire
  9. Minnesota
  10. Washington
Least Educated
  1. Tennessee
  2. New Mexico
  3. Nevada
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Kentucky
  6. Alabama
  7. Arkansas
  8. Louisiana
  9. Mississippi
  10. West Virginia (last in "Educational Attainment" category)

See other states fared here. (Check out the 10 states that people are fleeing.)

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