Back to School: The Least and Most Educated States in the US

By Stuart Wolf - Aug 4, 2025

This article appeared in noteabley.com and has been published here with permission.

Have you ever wondered which states boast the most college graduates and which struggle to get students through high school? Well, if you thought that the Deep South red states would rank lowest and blue-voting New York and California would rank highest, you'd be wrong! WalletHub just dropped their annual education rankings, and the results might shock you. So, let's go back to school to learn about the USA's least and most educated states.

50. West Virginia

John Denver sang that West Virginia was "almost heaven" in his infamous 1971 song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads," but when it comes to the three R's — that's readin', ritin', and 'rithmetic, the Mountain State scored just 24.29 points out of a possible 100.

Instagram // @westvirginiau

West Virginia's beautiful Appalachian Mountains were once home to the nation's coal industry. Nowadays, unemployment, addiction, crime, and poverty are high. As such, the state doesn't have the money to fund schools, and folk are leaving in their droves.

49. Mississippi

The Mississippi Delta spawned blues music, but its schools might make you sing the blues! Based on WalletHub's scoring system — which includes high school high school graduation rates, the number of diplomas, degrees, blue ribbon schools, and the quality of schools and universities — Mississippi scores just 26.11.

Instagram // @msmsbluewaves

Mississippi is the USA's poorest state (18.8% poverty rate), where one in three children live below the poverty line. Poverty means Mississippi only spends $13,461 per K-12 pupil, so few kids make it out of high school, let alone to Jackson State University.

48. Louisiana

Louisiana is famous for its rich French, Spanish, African, and Caribbean culture — reflected in New Orleans' music, their famous Mardi Gras celebration, and the distinctive cuisine of Cajun and Creole dishes including jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, po'boys, and beignets. But when it comes to education, the Pelican State also suffers from poverty, which lower its education standards to 28.64.

Instagram // @louisianatech

Add in Louisiana's never-ending hurricane repair costs, and the state's oil industry boom-bust cycles and seasonal tourism work means educational investment gets pushed to the back burner like a pot of gumbo.

47. Arkansas

After Bill Clinton put Arkansas on the map, the Natural State has slowly but surely been working on improving its educational standards. Yet how rural a state is affects its education… and Arkansas is about as rural as you can get without wrestling a pig.

Instagram // @chiomegapsi

The Natural State scored 30.25 points, which is incredibly low considering Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville has pumped serious money into the region. Arkansas State University (Go, Razorbacks!) does slightly better, ranking 342 out of 436 national universities.