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Top 10 Least-Educated U.S. States

Name the states where the lowest percentage of people over 25 have a four year college degree.
For the year 2024, according to the U.S. Census
Full list here
Quiz by
nonono
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Last updated: September 19, 2025
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First submittedNovember 5, 2015
Times taken90,666
Average score70.0%
Rating4.43
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%
State
24.4
West Virginia
27.0
Mississippi
27.1
Arkansas
27.8
Louisiana
27.9
Kentucky
%
State
28.5
Nevada
29.3
Oklahoma
29.9
Alabama
30.7
Indiana
31.8
New Mexico
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78 Comments
cosmokim
+37
Level 70
Jan 18, 2016
I could have sworn I'd typed in Louisiana...oh well.
Rassy8
+8
Level 65
Dec 31, 2017
Me too. I totally typed in West Virginia!
Elan
+5
Level 66
May 5, 2016
I literally got every single one except for #1.
tschutzer
+30
Level 93
Sep 1, 2017
Yeah, what a difference a "West" makes! Virginia is near the top most-educated states.
Sulps
+39
Level 55
Dec 31, 2017
Make a separate East Virginia to show further contrast.
SgtMac
+7
Level 53
Jan 1, 2018
Yeah, because a bundle of federal civil servants, politicians and lobbyists live in Virginia. They let West Virginia swim for itself.
stankyC
+13
Level 64
Jan 2, 2018
West Virginia broke away from Virginia in 1863 over the Civil War and slavery--the mostly mountainous counties in WV had no use for a slave economy and wanted to remain part of the Union.
kalbahamut
+6
Level 79
Jan 4, 2018
The biggest geographical contrast in Virginia is between Northern Virginia (the DC suburbs) and the rest of the state. Though politically this area is similar to Richmond and the Virginia Beach area.
APHill
+3
Level 76
Sep 1, 2017
Same. Facepalm.
mahble
+6
Level 79
Sep 3, 2017
I typed like half the states in the country, and got one. ONE!
Apocalyptic
+49
Level 57
Dec 31, 2017
Ever heard of the South lol
emwcee
+5
Level 47
Dec 31, 2017
Never would have guessed Indiana.
barry2506
+3
Level 69
Sep 19, 2025
I only guessed because I've spent the last 20 years living in Illinois. If you live close to Indiana you know. LOL
29er
+1
Level 73
Sep 19, 2025
I never set foot in IL if I can avoid it
coolandhip
+1
Level 36
Jan 26, 2026
People in Kentucky talk about how dumb Hoosiers are
Dijko
+9
Level 44
Dec 31, 2017
Thanks Indiana, got 9 out of 10 cause of you...
SkyjumperTalon
+11
Level 58
Dec 31, 2017
So the Kansas stereotype of uneducated farmers isn't as true as I thought...
Milezinator
+8
Level 71
Dec 31, 2017
yeah, I was surprised about that too. No Kansas or Nebraska!
nsg794
+13
Level 44
Jun 25, 2019
Remember, a pretty decent percentage of Kansas' population is in Wichita or the Kansas City metro- both areas with pretty high education levels. In Nebraska, a little over a third of the population is in the Omaha metro area, and a decent chunk is also in the Lincoln area. While both of these states are very rural in terms of space, the people are highly concentrated. Alaska (where the overwhelming majority of people are in the Anchorage area), Idaho (where most people are in the Boise area), and Nevada (literally 2/3's of the state is in the county with Las Vegas) are in a similar boat.
sumokitty
+19
Level 90
Dec 2, 2019
Farming is really scientific these days and many farmers go to ag schools. A lot of the universities with "state" in their name have significant agriculture programs (eg, Ohio State, Iowa State, Washington State).
djm
+6
Level 66
Dec 31, 2017
Kansas + Nebraska

Conservative + educated. Think prairie home companion and you're close.

piolieravioli
+8
Level 36
Jan 26, 2026
How are conservatives educated when 90% of this list are republican states
coolandhip
+2
Level 36
Jan 26, 2026
I believe the poster was saying that those two states are both conservative and educated
twained
+16
Level 60
Jan 2, 2018
Love to see how this correlates with per capita spending on education state by state
Quizmaster
+12
Level ∞
Sep 14, 2023
Highly correlated but not in any way causative.

Areas with high paying jobs (think SF, DC, NYC) attract educated workers. They also have a high cost of living. This requires them to spend more on education to provide the same basic services since teachers earn more, building maintenance is more expensive, etc...

Here in Seattle, teachers make a lot of money in absolute terms, but still struggle to afford to live here.

The state with the lowest spending per pupil is Utah. Chicago schools spend three times as much per student as Utah. Where would you rather send your kids?

Going international, Singapore has a very low cost per student and has educational outcomes that put the U.S. to shame.

Spending is largely irrelevant.

GlassMonkeyOLD
+3
Level 69
Sep 18, 2023
Private schools have way more funding and provide way more opportunities for students. Of course funding matters.
Froststar101
+2
Level 73
Dec 1, 2023
IDK about that, I think lots of private schools may have lower expenditures per student than public schools in high-cost-of-living areas.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Sep 19, 2025
I don't have numbers handy, but I would guess most private schools spend much less per student, given that most private schools in the US are religious.
IsleAuHaulte
+3
Level 92
Sep 20, 2025
Private schools generally don't take in the dumbest students.
Confabulously
+4
Level 79
Jan 3, 2018
I think it says something about the gentrification of college campuses that my home state of Indiana is internationally very well-known for its colleges (IU, Purdue, Notre Dame, etc.), yet relatively few of those degrees actually go to Hoosiers. Either that, or in-state students move away once they get a degree, which in that case I wouldn't blame them, LOL.
jmellor13
+7
Level 68
Jan 7, 2018
One of my coworkers (in Chicago) is from Indiana, and he always says Indiana is a "come-from" state, not a "go-to" state.
gewehr6628
+2
Level 47
May 26, 2021
drove through indiana when i was 5, there was a very fun museum playplace thing.
kalbahamut
+8
Level 79
Jan 4, 2018
Italy would rank just between Arkansas and Mississippi.
PeregrineFalcon
+25
Level 79
Apr 11, 2020
Different countries have different education systems and different meanings for 'college educated'. This is a bad metric for comparing countries.
kalbahamut
+8
Level 79
Apr 11, 2020
Okay. It's still true.
joedimaggio
+2
Level 75
Jan 26, 2026
PeregrineFalcon is right. For exemple, Switzerland has an education system that offers a very good education without going to college. We have only 34.6% of college graduates (like Montana). It doesn't mean that Switzerland is uneducated, it is an other system.
drlancy
+17
Level 56
Nov 15, 2018
Amazing to the amount of correlation people will try to apply as causation in this site's comments. Often it more conforms to their information bias.
MasterKenobi
+7
Level 65
Mar 5, 2019
Exactly. I tried to refute it, but there's too many of them!
joeythelemur
+6
Level 80
Apr 4, 2019
Valiant effort though!
GeoDude
+6
Level 46
May 9, 2019
Well you sure proved everybody wrong with your comment.
JudgeRudy
+7
Level 67
Dec 2, 2019
True. But it's just as epistemically weak/suspect to believe that simply by refuting causation all correlation should be written off as information bias that lacks probative value.
Quizmaster
+12
Level ∞
Sep 14, 2023
FYI, I deleted a lot of low-information political comments from this comments section. I'll continue to do so. JetPunk is not a political discussion forum.

If you must post about politics, increase your level of charity and effort.

MasterKenobi
+1
Level 65
Jan 26, 2026
Haha I'm just now seeing this but I'm probably part of that problem...or at least responding to it. Fair enough that my comments were deleted along with the parent ones.
AnEverydayNerd8
+1
Level 55
Nov 20, 2018
Disappointed that my state (Oklahoma) is on here.
Quizmaster
+15
Level ∞
Sep 26, 2019
The numbers have crept up a bit since the last iteration of this quiz. Personally, I'm not of the opinion that college education is an unalloyed good. If current trends continue, nearly everyone will have a college degree, yet the average person will be just as ignorant. Standards are already shockingly low, even at top universities. And of course the cost is ludicrous.
divantilya
+6
Level 36
Apr 11, 2020
^ I agree. My four years of University in the US taught me nothing (save a more in depth study of American History, and American pronunciations) that I hadn't already learned at the equivalent of a US Junior College in the Netherlands. What a shame! In our parents' generation a high school education in the US was the equivalent of a college degree. It allowed them to function at a higher level than bachelor degree holders today. That's why so many of us have to opt for post-graduate degrees... to actually learn something useful.
JWatson24
+4
Level 71
Mar 22, 2021
There's a certain point where I think there's no way to make the majority of the population more skilled/knowledgeable, no matter how much you change the education system. Most people only have a certain capacity to remember old facts while learning new ones. I'm not necessarily saying this as an insult, it's just that the human brain can't retain that much information over a long time.

That being said, if we focused more on teaching valuable, important things in a child's formative years, they'll be more likely to remember it. I think that reforming the education system in primary school to high school would have a more significant impact in reducing ignorance levels than reforming it in college.

GlaucusExquisita
+1
Level 78
Sep 20, 2025
I'm skeptical to believe that your average college-educated American is just as ignorant as your average non-college-educated American… or that admitting more people costs the quality of education... or that college simply admits people and doesn't actually contribute to people getting any smarter. (I believe it must be a logical conclusion from your argument here that one of these is true.) That's not to say I'm sure these are all wrong, but I wonder if you have a source for... whichever of these you believe (assuming you believe any).

That said, I agree that college education is not an unalloyed good. I think more people go for it than really need to, and I think it's really bad for the job market that incurring so much debt has become a requirement for so many positions that college education makes no difference for (well, a requirement for those in the demographic of "too rich to get enough financial aid, but too poor to pay out of pocket unless your family sells the house").

driehoek25
+17
Level 70
Dec 2, 2019
Not having a college degree does not mean you are uneducated. Most people who do tough work like mining, building a house or maintenance do not have a college degree. Not because they are not smart enough but because money and I bet most college kids could not screw a wheel on a car.
jmellor13
+3
Level 68
Dec 2, 2019
That is very true.
Corrode
+7
Level 60
Dec 4, 2019
Educated and intelligent aren't the same thing. If your schooling ended with a high school diploma then yes, you are uneducated.
loganite
+7
Level 93
Dec 4, 2019
So the first 12 years of school don't count at all as education? If you graduate high school, of course you are educated...there are different levels of education, and different ways to educate oneself. You don't have to have a four year degree from a traditional university to call yourself educated. Of course you are right that educated and intelligent are not the same thing.
reverendmeat
+5
Level 86
Sep 18, 2023
If I learn things on my own volition after high school is that not education? Do I have to pay someone to tell me to read the book, or can I just read the book?
Cheviot
+8
Level 95
Sep 19, 2023
Up to a point maybe. Do you want self-taught surgeons, airline pilots, civil engineers etc?
coolandhip
+1
Level 36
Jan 26, 2026
If they can pass the required licensing exams, then yes.
Flash7
+1
Level 27
Dec 4, 2019
I missed Arkansas (-_-)
Flash7
+1
Level 27
Dec 4, 2019
And now I missed West Virginia (o_o)
JRBerger
+6
Level 24
Dec 30, 2021
Living in a midwest state and previously living in metropolitans, I know that this way of comparing education is severely flawed. Most jobs in the midwest/south are manufacturing and agriculture, to which almost none get a bachelor's degree. Most jobs are trade-oriented, meaning that at most you would go and seek an associate's degree, go to a trade school, or get taught on the job. Furthermore, the majority of rural associate's degrees require very few general education credits. IE: Why would a farmer need to know Beer's law? You can make an association that the more rural the state, the more specialized their education is. A much better metric for calculating education would be to compare higher-education capacity, availability, and trade certificates per population. Education has nothing to do with race, politics, or intelligence, but with everything aforementioned.
DonTheLamplighter
+5
Level 87
Dec 30, 2021
Years ago, my brother worked at Ciba-Geigy, which became Novartis. He worked in a department of about 12 people and was the only one there without a college degree. When his boss was away, he was the only one in the group who could run the department. Several of them couldn't even be trusted to simply file things alphabetically. By this quiz's standard, they were all "more educated" and my brother was the "least educated".
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Dec 31, 2021
Just missed Kentucky and SD
HaythAl1
+3
Level 14
Jan 29, 2022
Nonono! I didn’t finish the quiz!
mooselikestoparty
+5
Level 60
Aug 17, 2023
10/10 WV PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SON!
Jeagles11765
+1
Level 26
Oct 28, 2023
Alaska?

Hawaii?

johnnybna
+3
Level 70
Oct 30, 2023
Woo hoo! Tennessee! We’re not in the Bottom 10 of something good! We made it out! We made it out! Take that, stupid bordering KY, AL & MS!
Fianchetto
+2
Level 79
Nov 29, 2023
Yet West Virginia manages to have the most colleges per capita by my methodology... what are doing?
Lukose
+1
Level 79
Sep 19, 2025
you really don’t wanna know
piolieravioli
+6
Level 36
Jan 26, 2026
just so yall know 90% of this list are republican states, might say smth
Koopa
+2
Level 88
Jan 26, 2026
Is that a sentence?
KanzazKyote
+1
Level 92
Jan 28, 2026
Yes, and every one of the Republican states except one has the highest African-American population in the country.

See what happens when we generalize?

Danny999
+1
Level 65
Jan 26, 2026
Imagine living in West Virginia
MRAdder
+3
Level 51
Jan 26, 2026
You can see the lasting ramifications of the Civil War and reconstruction in poverty and education statistics, much like the shadows of East Germany still appear in almost any data map of the country. It's rhetorically easy to make this a political thing because the deep south is so deep red, but the plains states do generally well in education which points to a more complicated answer.
TheSinnohman
+1
Level 67
Jan 26, 2026
Hmm, I can think of something else in common those top 9 have...
Captainsolar
+2
Level 56
Jan 26, 2026
Obesity? Diabetes? Teen Pregnancy? High School dropout rates? Shorter lifespans?
Captainsolar
+1
Level 56
Jan 26, 2026
The lowest educated states vote for politicians least interested in support lower-educated, usually lower-income people.
ANNES
+1
Level 63
Jan 27, 2026
What's sad is that some of these states are also home to esteemed colleges and universities. Tulane, Notre Dame, Berea, Transylvania...
KanzazKyote
+1
Level 92
Jan 28, 2026
Many of these states are pretty well off economically. Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nevada, sure they have quite a bit of poverty but are also growing rapidly. Higher education is not the only factor in whether a region is performing well.
KanzazKyote
+1
Level 92
Jan 28, 2026
Should note that higher education is not education as a whole. Mississippi boasts a K-8 math and reading score higher than California and New York, and its minority students are by far some of the best educated compared to minority students on a national level. But of course, they're going to get shit on for not having a high college degree rate despite having a solid university system and the fact that most of its economy isn't white collar.
Kyle2118
+1
Level 45
Jan 28, 2026
Basically, southern conservative states have the lowest education. Who knew
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