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Less than high school graduate: U.S. states ranked (2025)

Measure: Less than high school graduate. All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Educational attainment of young adults 18–24 by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2025.

Licence: Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated: 2026-11-03

Download full table CSV Source: U.S. Census Bureau (opens in a new tab)

National value: 11.3 (United States).

Small states, hard to see on the map:

DC 5.2 %
RI 10.6 %
DE 10.7 %
CT 8 %
NJ 10.7 %
MD 11.5 %
MA 9.3 %
VT 10 %
NH 10.7 %

Lowest: 5.2 to 9.9 %
Group 2: 9.9 to 10.8 %
Group 3: 10.8 to 11.7 %
Group 4: 11.7 to 13.4 %
Highest: 13.4 to 17.4 %

The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.


1	Wyoming	17.4
2	New Mexico	16.2
3	Oklahoma	14.8
4	Montana	14.7
5	South Dakota	14.6
6	Indiana	14.3
7	Idaho	14.1
8	Alaska	13.9
9	Mississippi	13.8
10	Georgia	13.7
11	Oregon	13.4
12	Texas	13.2
13	Arizona	13
14	Nevada	12.8
15	Michigan	12.7
16	Ohio	12.3
17	Florida	12.2
17	Washington	12.2
19	Kentucky	11.9
19	Louisiana	11.9
21	Alabama	11.7
21	South Carolina	11.7
23	Arkansas	11.6
24	Maryland	11.5
24	West Virginia	11.5
26	Iowa	11.4
27	Nebraska	11.3
28	North Carolina	11.2
29	Minnesota	11
30	Colorado	10.9
31	Kansas	10.8
31	Missouri	10.8
33	Delaware	10.7
33	Maine	10.7
33	New Hampshire	10.7
33	New Jersey	10.7
37	Rhode Island	10.6
38	Tennessee	10.5
39	Pennsylvania	10.4
40	Vermont	10
41	Utah	9.9
42	New York	9.7
43	Illinois	9.4
44	Massachusetts	9.3
45	Wisconsin	9.2
46	California	8.9
47	Virginia	8.8
48	Hawaii	8.3
49	North Dakota	8.2
50	Connecticut	8
51	District of Columbia	5.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Table S1501: Educational Attainment. Reference period: 2025.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by less than high school graduate (2025). Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-year estimates, Table S1501; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-03. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-less-than-high-school-graduate/

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