Education

Mapped: Share of College Graduates in Each U.S. State

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1 month ago

December 15, 2024

Pallavi Rao

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Mapped: Share of College Graduates in Each U.S. State

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Education pays, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found out in data published earlier this year. For every level of education completed, Americans earn more and face a lower risk of unemployment.

So where have Americans got this figured out?

We map the share of people aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree, by each U.S. state.

Figures for this map are sourced from the latest American Community Survey findings, published by the Census Bureau.

Ranked: Share of University Degree Holders in Each U.S. State

The highest share of college graduates are clustered in the Northeast, with D.C., Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut all ranking near the top.

These states also have a greater share of top-ranked universities in the country.

Rank	State	State Code	Share of College Grads (2023)
1	District of Columbia*	DC	66%
2	Massachusetts	MA	48%
3	Colorado	CO	46%
4	Maryland	MD	44%
5	New Jersey	NJ	44%
6	Vermont	VT	44%
7	Connecticut	CT	43%
8	Virginia	VA	42%
9	New Hampshire	NH	41%
10	New York	NY	41%
11	Washington	WA	41%
12	Minnesota	MN	40%
13	Rhode Island	RI	39%
14	California	CA	38%
15	Illinois	IL	38%
16	Oregon	OR	38%
17	Utah	UT	38%
18	Delaware	DE	37%
19	Hawaii	HI	37%
20	Maine	ME	37%
21	North Carolina	NC	37%
22	Kansas	KS	36%
23	Florida	FL	35%
24	Georgia	GA	35%
25	Montana	MT	35%
26	Nebraska	NE	35%
27	Pennsylvania	PA	35%
28	Arizona	AZ	34%
29	North Dakota	ND	34%
30	Texas	TX	34%
31	Wisconsin	WI	34%
32	Michigan	MI	33%
33	Missouri	MO	33%
34	South Carolina	SC	33%
35	South Dakota	SD	33%
36	Alaska	AK	32%
37	Idaho	ID	32%
38	Iowa	IA	32%
39	New Mexico	NM	32%
40	Ohio	OH	32%
41	Tennessee	TN	32%
42	Indiana	IN	30%
43	Wyoming	WY	30%
44	Alabama	AL	29%
45	Nevada	NV	29%
46	Oklahoma	OK	29%
47	Kentucky	KY	28%
48	Louisiana	LA	27%
49	Arkansas	AR	26%
50	Mississippi	MS	26%
51	West Virginia	WV	24%
N/A	U.S. Average	USA	36%

*Federal district. Figures rounded.

Known innovation hubs, like California, also have a relatively high share.

Meanwhile the South is a cluster of lower shares of residents with university degrees, with West Virginia at the bottom of the ranking (24%).

States with higher percentages of college graduates often correlate with higher-paying job markets and vice-versa.

The national average sits at 36% which means slightly more than one-in-three people across the country have a university degree.

Diploma Divide 2024

Post the 2024 election, higher education has emerged as one of the key indicators of voting preference, along with class and race.

As this Axios article discusses: all states but one which are at or below the national average (36%) voted red in 2024, and nearly all of those above it voted blue.

There are three exceptions to the rule: Utah and North Carolina, both above the U.S. average, both voting Republican. On the other hand, New Mexico, below the average, voted Democrat.