The 10 Most, Least Educated US States

Massachusetts comes in at No. 1, Mississippi is last
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2020 9:35 AM CST
Here Are the Smartest States in America
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Prostock-Studio)

Looking to surround yourself with brainiacs? Some states have more of an emphasis on education than others, and WalletHub looked at the data to see which ones graduate at the top of the class. The site analyzed all 50 states in terms of educational attainment (meaning such factors as the share of adults with a high school diploma, as well as what levels of higher education others have reached) and the quality of education, including local high school graduation rates, math and reading test scores, and racial and gender gaps in getting an education. Massachusetts leads the pack, coming in first in both the "educational attainment" and "quality of education" categories. Mississippi brings up the rear. Read on to see which other states round out the top 10:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Maryland
  3. Colorado
  4. Vermont
  5. Connecticut
  6. Virginia
  7. Washington
  8. New Hampshire
  9. New Jersey
  10. Minnesota
Next: the 10 least educated states.

The least educated states:

  1. Mississippi
  2. West Virginia
  3. Louisiana
  4. Arkansas
  5. Alabama
  6. Kentucky
  7. South Carolina
  8. Nevada
  9. New Mexico
  10. Tennessee
Check out how other states fared here. (These are the states with the best and worst economies.)

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