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Most and least educated states

The most educated state is Massachusetts, where 48.3% of adults age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2024. The least educated is West Virginia, at 24.4%. Nationally, the share was 36.8%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-year, 2024.

We measure education by the share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, a standard way to compare educational attainment between states. It describes the adults who live in a state today, including graduates who moved there, and does not rate the quality of its schools or universities.

Data year: 2024Source released Sept. 11, 2025Last updated Oct. 23, 2026GCT1502

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best. Ranks reflect point estimates; close values may not differ statistically.

Lowest state estimate 24.4% West Virginia
Highest state estimate 48.3% Massachusetts
Massachusetts: 48.3% Colorado: 47.8% Vermont: 45.1% Maryland: 44.7% New Jersey: 44.5% Virginia: 43.3% Connecticut: 42.6% New Hampshire: 41.5% New York: 41.2% Washington: 41.0% Minnesota: 40.0% Illinois: 39.2% Utah: 39.1% Rhode Island: 39.0% California: 38.1% Hawaii: 37.8% Oregon: 37.8% Maine: 37.1% North Carolina: 37.1% Pennsylvania: 36.4% Georgia: 36.3% Montana: 36.3% Delaware: 36.0% Kansas: 36.0% Florida: 35.8% Nebraska: 35.4% Texas: 35.2% Arizona: 34.7% Wisconsin: 34.6% South Dakota: 34.2% North Dakota: 34.0% Missouri: 33.5% Michigan: 33.3% South Carolina: 33.3% Idaho: 33.0% Alaska: 32.8% Ohio: 32.4% Tennessee: 32.4% Wyoming: 32.3% Iowa: 32.1% New Mexico: 31.8% Indiana: 30.7% Alabama: 29.9% Oklahoma: 29.3% Nevada: 28.5% Kentucky: 27.9% Louisiana: 27.8% Arkansas: 27.1% Mississippi: 27.0% West Virginia: 24.4%
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

The 10 most educated states

  1. Massachusetts: 48.3%
  2. Colorado: 47.8%
  3. Vermont: 45.1%
  4. Maryland: 44.7%
  5. New Jersey: 44.5%
  6. Virginia: 43.3%
  7. Connecticut: 42.6%
  8. New Hampshire: 41.5%
  9. New York: 41.2%
  10. Washington: 41.0%

The 10 least educated states

  1. West Virginia: 24.4%
  2. Mississippi: 27.0%
  3. Arkansas: 27.1%
  4. Louisiana: 27.8%
  5. Kentucky: 27.9%
  6. Nevada: 28.5%
  7. Oklahoma: 29.3%
  8. Alabama: 29.9%
  9. Indiana: 30.7%
  10. New Mexico: 31.8%

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is 35.6%: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

One other state is statistically tied with Massachusetts at 90% confidence: Colorado. This is not a confidence interval for rank, and testing multiple pairs increases false-positive risk.

See the top ten estimates with their 90% margins of error23.7%48.7%MassachusettsColoradoVermontMarylandNew JerseyVirginiaConnecticutNew HampshireNew YorkWashington

Shared axis spans the complete 50-state estimate ± MOE range. Intervals describe individual estimates; overlapping intervals alone are not our significance test.

Does the degree threshold change the comparison?

These states’ ranks change the most between bachelor’s degree attainment and advanced degree attainment. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StateBachelor’s degree attainmentAdvanced degree attainment
New Mexico31.8% · #4114.0% · #20
Montana36.3% · #2112.0% · #35
North Dakota34.0% · #3110.5% · #45

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

Values over time

Annual ACS 1-year estimates, 2021–2024. Each year is a separate published survey release; 2020 is excluded because the Census Bureau did not release standard 1-year estimates for that year. Ranks are recalculated among the same 50 states for each year.

The state-by-state view

Download table

Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia and Puerto Rico shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Bachelor’s degree attainment · 2024 · Percent
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1Massachusetts48.3%± 0.4%Highest estimate
2Colorado47.8%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
3Vermont45.1%± 1.4%Different at 90%
4Maryland44.7%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
5New Jersey44.5%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
6Virginia43.3%± 0.4%Different at 90%
7Connecticut42.6%± 0.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
8New Hampshire41.5%± 0.8%Different at 90%
9New York41.2%± 0.3%Not distinguishable at 90%
10Washington41.0%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
11Minnesota40.0%± 0.4%Different at 90%
12Illinois39.2%± 0.3%Different at 90%
13Utah39.1%± 0.7%Not distinguishable at 90%
14Rhode Island39.0%± 1.1%Not distinguishable at 90%
15California38.1%± 0.2%Not distinguishable at 90%
16Hawaii37.8%± 1.0%Not distinguishable at 90%
16Oregon37.8%± 0.5%Not distinguishable at 90%
18Maine37.1%± 0.8%Not distinguishable at 90%
18North Carolina37.1%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
20Pennsylvania36.4%± 0.3%Different at 90%
21Georgia36.3%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
21Montana36.3%± 1.0%Not distinguishable at 90%
23Delaware36.0%± 1.0%Not distinguishable at 90%
23Kansas36.0%± 0.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
25Florida35.8%± 0.2%Not distinguishable at 90%
26Nebraska35.4%± 0.7%Not distinguishable at 90%
27Texas35.2%± 0.2%Not distinguishable at 90%
28Arizona34.7%± 0.4%Different at 90%
29Wisconsin34.6%± 0.3%Not distinguishable at 90%
30South Dakota34.2%± 1.1%Not distinguishable at 90%
31North Dakota34.0%± 1.1%Not distinguishable at 90%
32Missouri33.5%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
33Michigan33.3%± 0.3%Not distinguishable at 90%
33South Carolina33.3%± 0.5%Not distinguishable at 90%
35Idaho33.0%± 0.7%Not distinguishable at 90%
36Alaska32.8%± 1.1%Not distinguishable at 90%
37Ohio32.4%± 0.3%Not distinguishable at 90%
37Tennessee32.4%± 0.4%Not distinguishable at 90%
39Wyoming32.3%± 1.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
40Iowa32.1%± 0.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
41New Mexico31.8%± 0.7%Not distinguishable at 90%
42Indiana30.7%± 0.5%Different at 90%
43Alabama29.9%± 0.4%Different at 90%
44Oklahoma29.3%± 0.4%Different at 90%
45Nevada28.5%± 0.6%Different at 90%
46Kentucky27.9%± 0.5%Not distinguishable at 90%
47Louisiana27.8%± 0.5%Not distinguishable at 90%
48Arkansas27.1%± 0.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
49Mississippi27.0%± 0.6%Not distinguishable at 90%
50West Virginia24.4%± 0.7%Different at 90%
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states65.5%± 1.5%Reference jurisdiction
Ref.Puerto RicoNot ranked among states29.7%± 0.7%Reference jurisdiction

50 states plus 2 reference rows.

Common questions

What is the most educated state?

Massachusetts, where 48.3% of adults age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2024.

What is the least educated state?

West Virginia, where 24.4% of adults age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2024.

Does the ranking change with a different measure?

Yes. High school completion puts states in a noticeably different order. Compare the high school attainment and advanced degree rankings.

What this ranking measures

Adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Includes people with advanced degrees. Migration of graduates affects the result; it is not a measure of in-state university performance.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 23.9 percentage points. The U.S. benchmark is 36.8%. It is not a simple average of the states.

19 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 31 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

Each estimate has a 90% margin of error published by the Census Bureau. For two different states, we flag a difference only when its absolute size exceeds the square root of the sum of their squared margins of error. The comparison tool applies this check to every selected pair.

Non-significance is not proof of equality. These pairwise tests are not adjusted for multiple comparisons and do not form ranking confidence intervals. Statistical method and limitations.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Why adult attainment does not measure school quality.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
U.S. Census Bureau
Product / file
ACS 1-year · GCT1502
Period
2024
Unit
Percent
Calculation
Published estimate; no transformation of the value. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual. 2025 ACS 1-year estimates scheduled for October 29, 2026 (Census ACS updates page); adoption follows editorial review.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

Download, cite, or embed

Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

Related rankings

State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

01

Advanced degree attainment

2024 · Census ACS

22.6% Massachusetts · highest estimate 02

High school attainment

2024 · Census ACS

95.0% New Hampshire · highest estimate

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