Education is crucial to getting ahead in a knowledge-based economy, and states regularly tout their schools and colleges when seeking to attract investors. But which states can back up their claims?
To identify the best-educated states, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed index values for educational attainment and school quality compiled by Scholaroo.com in its 2022 Most & Least Educated States report.
The No. 1 spot is held by Massachusetts, with an overall score of 84.4. It has the highest share of college, master program, and doctorate program graduates, and ranks first in both educational attainment and school quality rank. The state is home to such famous institutions as Amherst College, Boston College, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University. (This is what it costs to attend America’s best private colleges.)
Next is Connecticut with an overall score of 74.6. It has a tradition of investing in education, including the Connecticut Technical High School System, and is home to Yale University. In third place is Maryland, with an overall score of 71.7. It is home to institutions such as Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland (and the United States Naval Academy).
The list is dominated by states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions: rounding out the top 10 are New Jersey, Virginia, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Rhode Island. (These are the most educated cities in the country.)
The bottom end of the list is dominated by states in the South and West. The worst performer is Oklahoma, with an overall score of only 36. Above it are Nevada and Louisiana, each with a score of 38.7. Arizona is next with a score of 38.8, and Mississippi rounds the bottom five with 39.3.
Click here to see the most and least educated states in 2022
50. Oklahoma
> Overall score: 36.0
> Educational attainment rank: 48
> School quality rank: 47
[in-text-ad]
49. Nevada
> Overall score: 38.7
> Educational attainment rank: 49
> School quality rank: 42
24/7 Wall St.
48. Louisiana
> Overall score: 38.7
> Educational attainment rank: 47
> School quality rank: 46
47. Arizona
> Overall score: 38.8
> Educational attainment rank: 38
> School quality rank: 48
[in-text-ad-2]
46. Mississippi
> Overall score: 39.3
> Educational attainment rank: 50
> School quality rank: 40
45. New Mexico
> Overall score: 39.6
> Educational attainment rank: 34
> School quality rank: 49
[in-text-ad]
44. Idaho
> Overall score: 41.0
> Educational attainment rank: 44
> School quality rank: 43
43. West Virginia
> Overall score: 41.8
> Educational attainment rank: 41
> School quality rank: 44
42. Alaska
> Overall score: 42.9
> Educational attainment rank: 22
> School quality rank: 50
[in-text-ad-2]
41. Alabama
> Overall score: 43.6
> Educational attainment rank: 45
> School quality rank: 39
40. Arkansas
> Overall score: 44.1
> Educational attainment rank: 46
> School quality rank: 36
[in-text-ad]
39. South Carolina
> Overall score: 44.4
> Educational attainment rank: 32
> School quality rank: 45
24/7 Wall St.
38. Texas
> Overall score: 45.8
> Educational attainment rank: 39
> School quality rank: 37
37. Wyoming
> Overall score: 46.6
> Educational attainment rank: 42
> School quality rank: 30
[in-text-ad-2]
36. Florida
> Overall score: 47.5
> Educational attainment rank: 36
> School quality rank: 32
35. South Dakota
> Overall score: 48.1
> Educational attainment rank: 43
> School quality rank: 26
[in-text-ad]
34. Georgia
> Overall score: 48.9
> Educational attainment rank: 27
> School quality rank: 38
24/7 Wall St.
33. North Dakota
> Overall score: 49.5
> Educational attainment rank: 40
> School quality rank: 22
32. Tennessee
> Overall score: 49.6
> Educational attainment rank: 33
> School quality rank: 28
[in-text-ad-2]
31. North Carolina
> Overall score: 49.7
> Educational attainment rank: 30
> School quality rank: 35
30. Indiana
> Overall score: 50.0
> Educational attainment rank: 37
> School quality rank: 25
[in-text-ad]
29. Ohio
> Overall score: 50.6
> Educational attainment rank: 26
> School quality rank: 33
24/7 Wall St.
28. Montana
> Overall score: 50.7
> Educational attainment rank: 25
> School quality rank: 34
27. Kentucky
> Overall score: 51.0
> Educational attainment rank: 35
> School quality rank: 20
[in-text-ad-2]
26. Hawaii
> Overall score: 52.2
> Educational attainment rank: 14
> School quality rank: 41
25. Michigan
> Overall score: 52.7
> Educational attainment rank: 19
> School quality rank: 29
[in-text-ad]
24. Kansas
> Overall score: 54.5
> Educational attainment rank: 21
> School quality rank: 21
23. Utah
> Overall score: 54.6
> Educational attainment rank: 28
> School quality rank: 19
22. Missouri
> Overall score: 55.9
> Educational attainment rank: 20
> School quality rank: 18
[in-text-ad-2]
21. Oregon
> Overall score: 56.0
> Educational attainment rank: 16
> School quality rank: 31
20. Nebraska
> Overall score: 56.0
> Educational attainment rank: 23
> School quality rank: 16
[in-text-ad]
19. Iowa
> Overall score: 56.1
> Educational attainment rank: 31
> School quality rank: 9
24/7 Wall St.
18. Wisconsin
> Overall score: 56.6
> Educational attainment rank: 29
> School quality rank: 11
17. Maine
> Overall score: 56.7
> Educational attainment rank: 24
> School quality rank: 13
[in-text-ad-2]
16. Delaware
> Overall score: 57.6
> Educational attainment rank: 18
> School quality rank: 17
15. California
> Overall score: 59.6
> Educational attainment rank: 10
> School quality rank: 24
[in-text-ad]
14. Colorado
> Overall score: 59.7
> Educational attainment rank: 8
> School quality rank: 27
13. Pennsylvania
> Overall score: 59.9
> Educational attainment rank: 17
> School quality rank: 14
12. Washington
> Overall score: 60.0
> Educational attainment rank: 9
> School quality rank: 23
[in-text-ad-2]
11. Illinois
> Overall score: 61.1
> Educational attainment rank: 13
> School quality rank: 15
10. Rhode Island
> Overall score: 62.5
> Educational attainment rank: 12
> School quality rank: 12
[in-text-ad]
9. Minnesota
> Overall score: 63.7
> Educational attainment rank: 15
> School quality rank: 5
8. New Hampshire
> Overall score: 64.2
> Educational attainment rank: 11
> School quality rank: 8
7. New York
> Overall score: 68.8
> Educational attainment rank: 5
> School quality rank: 6
[in-text-ad-2]
6. Vermont
> Overall score: 68.8
> Educational attainment rank: 4
> School quality rank: 7
5. Virginia
> Overall score: 69.6
> Educational attainment rank: 6
> School quality rank: 4
[in-text-ad]
4. New Jersey
> Overall score: 70.8
> Educational attainment rank: 7
> School quality rank: 3
3. Maryland
> Overall score: 71.7
> Educational attainment rank: 2
> School quality rank: 10
2. Connecticut
> Overall score: 74.6
> Educational attainment rank: 3
> School quality rank: 2
[in-text-ad-2]
1. Massachusetts
> Overall score: 84.4
> Educational attainment rank: 1
> School quality rank: 1
Are You Still Paying With a Debit Card?
The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.
Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!
Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.