List of U.S. states and territories by educational attainment

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This list of U.S. states and territories by educational attainment covers the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Puerto Rico and their populations' educational attainment for all people of at least 25 years of age. The four other inhabited U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are listed separately.

The data source for the main list is the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019.^[1] The data source for the territories table is from 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data, because those territories are excluded from the American Community Survey.^[2] The American Community Survey is a large demographic survey collected throughout the year using mailed questionnaires, telephone interviews, and visits from Census Bureau field representatives to about 3.5 million household addresses annually, regardless of their legal immigration status. The survey does not measure graduation rates from different educational institutions, but instead, it measures the percentage of adult residents with a high school diploma.

Overall, 88.61% of Americans over the age of 25 had graduated from high school in 2019, with the highest level found in the state of Wyoming at 94.55% and the lowest in the state of California at 84.03%. In Puerto Rico, the proportion was even lower, though, at 78.78%.^[1]

33.13% of Americans over the age of 25 had an educational attainment of having a bachelor's degree or higher in 2019. The state with the highest percentage of people having a bachelor's degree of higher educational attainment was Massachusetts at 44.98%, and the lowest was West Virginia at 21.05%. The District of Columbia had a percentage significantly higher than that of any U.S. state at 59.67%.^[1]

Advanced Degrees, such as Master's Degrees and Doctorates were held by 12.79% of Americans at least 25 years old in 2019. Advanced Degrees were most common in Massachusetts, with 20.30% of Massachusetts residents holding an advanced degree of any type in 2019, and they were least common in Arkansas, with 8.26% of Arkansas residents holding an advanced degree. The District of Columbia had a percentage of 34.0%, while in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 7.95% of Americans had an advanced degree, a proportion lower than any state in the U.S.^[1]

As of the 2010 Census, four U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) had educational attainment numbers below every U.S. state (and the District of Columbia). In the U.S. Virgin Islands, 68.9% had attained a high school degree or higher; in American Samoa, 9.9% had attained a bachelor's degree or higher.^[2]

List[]

In the list below, one can find the population in each state and territory of the U.S. who has attained a specific education level (out of people 25 years or over), and the percentage of the population who has attained that education level. The list is initially sorted in Alphabetical order but one can click the table headers to sort by any column.^[1]

State or Territory	Population over the age of 25	With a High School Diploma or higher		With a Bachelor's Degree or higher		With an Advanced Degree
		Population	Pct	Population	Pct	Population	Pct
Alabama	3,360,058	2,926,985	87.11%	885,357	26.35%	337,382	10.04%
Alaska	484,058	452,968	93.58%	146,157	30.19%	56,574	11.69%
Arizona	4,944,540	4,331,542	87.60%	1,492,158	30.18%	561,120	11.35%
Arkansas	2,036,456	1,781,463	87.48%	475,367	23.34%	168,182	8.26%
California	26,937,872	22,636,359	84.03%	9,428,484	35.00%	3,538,760	13.14%
Colorado	3,974,943	3,672,723	92.40%	1,695,602	42.66%	637,777	16.04%
Connecticut	2,496,420	2,264,581	90.71%	994,548	39.84%	445,382	17.84%
Delaware	687,311	620,789	90.32%	228,199	33.20%	93,912	13.66%
District of Columbia	505,145	463,977	91.85%	301,429	59.67%	171,604	33.97%
Florida	15,484,502	13,689,867	88.41%	4,753,637	30.70%	1,770,994	11.44%
Georgia	7,080,222	6,224,197	87.91%	2,301,568	32.51%	891,173	12.59%
Hawaii	996,668	920,690	92.38%	335,209	33.63%	115,230	11.56%
Idaho	1,170,997	1,071,091	91.47%	336,655	28.75%	116,466	9.95%
Illinois	8,694,694	7,812,057	89.85%	3,108,972	35.76%	1,222,732	14.06%
Indiana	4,502,015	4,033,932	89.60%	1,212,826	26.94%	435,055	9.66%
Iowa	2,123,004	1,966,523	92.63%	622,253	29.31%	202,054	9.52%
Kansas	1,918,081	1,760,324	91.78%	652,489	34.02%	237,638	12.39%
Kentucky	3,048,442	2,657,789	87.19%	765,923	25.13%	312,883	10.26%
Louisiana	3,140,201	2,699,357	85.96%	784,275	24.98%	280,328	8.93%
Maine	991,152	923,838	93.21%	328,999	33.19%	123,277	12.44%
Maryland	4,183,858	3,781,706	90.39%	1,710,230	40.88%	798,449	19.08%
Massachusetts	4,850,576	4,429,635	91.32%	2,181,743	44.98%	984,535	20.30%
Michigan	6,894,627	6,298,340	91.35%	2,070,795	30.03%	818,110	11.87%
Minnesota	3,847,212	3,601,522	93.61%	1,433,226	37.25%	490,396	12.75%
Mississippi	1,979,664	1,688,747	85.30%	441,751	22.31%	171,039	8.64%
Missouri	4,206,162	3,814,347	90.68%	1,271,281	30.22%	495,473	11.78%
Montana	741,950	699,268	94.25%	249,148	33.58%	77,839	10.49%
Nebraska	1,271,770	1,170,498	92.04%	422,587	33.23%	145,428	11.44%
Nevada	2,136,466	1,855,551	86.85%	548,919	25.69%	193,082	9.04%
New Hampshire	979,750	914,078	93.30%	368,237	37.58%	143,601	14.66%
New Jersey	6,191,229	5,591,610	90.32%	2,551,765	41.22%	995,984	16.09%
New Mexico	1,425,988	1,224,660	85.88%	394,598	27.67%	173,317	12.15%
New York	13,664,734	11,970,504	87.60%	5,166,218	37.81%	2,267,778	16.60%
North Carolina	7,187,077	6,368,153	88.61%	2,321,185	32.30%	849,765	11.82%
North Dakota	504,375	471,356	93.45%	153,397	30.41%	44,870	8.90%
Ohio	8,049,805	7,308,958	90.80%	2,356,585	29.28%	891,640	11.08%
Oklahoma	2,619,244	2,315,978	88.42%	686,509	26.21%	238,621	9.11%
Oregon	2,988,118	2,729,719	91.35%	1,032,316	34.55%	404,405	13.53%
Pennsylvania	9,028,036	8,216,204	91.01%	2,917,402	32.31%	1,155,775	12.80%
Puerto Rico	2,301,735	1,813,327	78.78%	626,580	27.22%	182,991	7.95%
Rhode Island	746,952	666,745	89.26%	260,275	34.84%	104,188	13.95%
South Carolina	3,563,204	3,147,526	88.33%	1,054,559	29.60%	398,063	11.17%
South Dakota	588,029	541,735	92.13%	174,784	29.72%	53,553	9.11%
Tennessee	4,693,962	4,131,145	88.01%	1,348,224	28.72%	503,124	10.72%
Texas	18,772,550	15,890,162	84.65%	5,776,533	30.77%	2,025,736	10.79%
Utah	1,911,592	1,778,532	93.04%	664,661	34.77%	216,552	11.33%
Vermont	445,558	414,700	93.07%	172,272	38.66%	71,257	15.99%
Virginia	5,872,757	5,288,045	90.04%	2,325,070	39.59%	1,012,270	17.24%
Washington	5,290,324	4,850,250	91.68%	1,955,632	36.97%	750,904	14.19%
West Virginia	1,281,086	1,116,281	87.14%	269,706	21.05%	108,020	8.43%
Wisconsin	4,015,285	3,724,423	92.76%	1,258,379	31.34%	428,501	10.67%
Wyoming	389,847	368,597	94.55%	113,557	29.13%	40,374	10.36%
United States	224,898,568	199,280,027	88.61%	74,501,651	33.13%	28,771,172	12.79%

U.S. territories[]

Below is a table of the educational attainment of four U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.^[2] The data in the table below is from the 2010 Census because these territories are not included in the American Community Survey. Puerto Rico is not included in this table because Puerto Rico is included in the American Community Survey (with the name "Puerto Rico Community Survey")^[3] — Puerto Rico is included in the table above.

The data below is for people 25 years and older.

Territory	% High school graduate or higher (2010 Census)	% Bachelor's degree or higher (2010 Census)	% Advanced degree (2010 Census)	Total population (2010 Census)	Population with high school degree or higher (2010 Census)	Population with bachelor's degree or higher (2010 Census)	Population with advanced degree (2010 Census)
American Samoa	82.1%	9.9%	3.5%	25,907	21,265	4,940	906
Guam	79.4%	20.4%	5.2%	89,253	70,905	18,179	4,666
Northern Mariana Islands	82.4%	20.2%	3.7%	32,602	26,865	6,585	1,202
U.S. Virgin Islands	68.9%	19.2%	7.4%	70,813	48,791	5,450	5,229

Maps[]

Americans with a high school education or higher by state according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019

Americans with an advanced degree by state according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019

Americans with a bachelor's degree or higher by state according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019

See Also[]

• Education in the United States
• High School in the United States
• Colleges in the United States
• Universities in the United States
• High School Diploma
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree

References[]