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

This article presents a list of U.S. states sorted by educational attainment for persons 25 years of age and older. This table is an estimation based on the responses to the American Community Survey. This 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 a state's high schools, rather, it measures the percentage of adult residents with a high school diploma.

State	% High school graduate	Rank	% Bachelor's degree	Rank	% Advanced degree	Rank
Montana	92.8%	1	29.5%	20	9.5%	32
Minnesota	92.4%	2	33.7%	10	11.2%	17
New Hampshire	92.	3	34.9%	8	13.0%	9
Wyoming	92.3%	3	25.7%	40	8.6%	40
Alaska	92.1%	5	28.0%	26	10.1%	27
Vermont	91.8%	6	36.0%	7	14.3%	6
North Dakota	91.7%	7	27.7%	28	7.6%	48
Maine	91.6%	8	29.0%	22	10.3%	24
Iowa	91.5%	9	26.7%	35	8.5%	41
Utah	91.2%	10	31.1%	15	10.4%	23
Hawaii	91.0%	11	30.8%	17	10.5%	21
Wisconsin	91.0%	11	27.8%	27	9.4%	33
South Dakota	90.9%	13	27.0%	33	8.0%	43
Nebraska	90.7%	14	29.3%	21	9.7%	30
Colorado	90.7%	14	38.1%	2	14.0%	7
Washington	90.4%	16	32.9%	11	12.0%	13
Kansas	90.2%	17	31.0%	16	11.0%	19
Connecticut	89.9%	18	37.6%	4	16.6%	3
Oregon	89.8%	19	30.8%	17	11.5%	15
Massachusetts	89.8%	19	40.5%	1	17.7%	1
Michigan	89.6%	21	26.9%	34	10.5%	21
Idaho	89.5%	22	25.9%	38	8.2%	42
Maryland	89.4%	23	37.9%	3	17.3%	2
District of Columbia	89.3%		54.6%		31.3%
Pennsylvania	89.2%	24	28.6%	24	11.2%	17
Ohio	89.1%	25	26.1%	37	9.7%	30
New Jersey	88.6%	26	36.8%	5	14.0%	7
Delaware	88.4%	27	30.0%	19	12.2%	12
Missouri	88.4%	27	27.1%	32	10.2%	25
Virginia	88.3%	29	36.3%	6	15.4%	4
Illinois	87.9%	30	32.3%	12	12.4%	11
Indiana	87.8%	31	24.1%	42	8.7%	38
Oklahoma	86.9%	32	24.1%	42	8.0%	43
Florida	86.9%	32	27.3%	31	9.8%	29
United States	86.7%		29.8%		11.2%
Rhode Island	86.2%	34	31.9%	13	12.8%	10
Arizona	86.0%	35	27.5%	30	10.2%	25
North Carolina	85.8%	36	28.4%	25	9.9%	28
New York	85.6%	37	34.2%	9	14.8%	5
South Carolina	85.6%	37	25.8%	39	9.3%	35
Tennessee	85.5%	39	24.9%	41	9.0%	37
Georgia	85.4%	40	28.8%	23	10.7%	20
Nevada	85.1%	41	23.0%	45	7.9%	45
West Virginia	85.0%	42	19.2%	50	7.4%	50
Arkansas	84.8%	43	21.1%	48	7.5%	49
Alabama	84.3%	44	23.5%	44	8.7%	38
New Mexico	84.2%	45	26.3%	36	11.5%	15
Kentucky	84.2%	45	22.3%	47	9.2%	36
Louisiana	83.4%	47	22.5%	46	7.7%	46
Mississippi	82.3%	48	20.7%	49	7.7%	46
Texas	81.9%	49	27.6%	29	9.4%	33
California	81.8%	50	31.4%	14	11.6%	14
Puerto Rico	73.0%

Map of states percentage of population 25 years old with Advanced Degree in 2009.

Map of states percentage of population 25 years old with bachelor's degree or Higher in 2009.

Source: