U.S. states ranked by bachelor’s degree attainment
Compare the share of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher in all 50 states. Includes counts, degree categories and Census source tables.
Which states have the highest bachelor’s degree attainment?
Massachusetts has the highest point estimate, 47.3%, for 2020–2024. Next are Colorado (45.7%) and Vermont (43.8%) .
Massachusetts leads the 50-state point estimates, followed by Colorado. This is a profile of adult residents’ completed credentials, rather than an ordering of school quality or university completion rates.
The denominator is residents age 25 and older. The numerator combines bachelor’s, master’s, professional and doctoral degrees; people with postgraduate credentials remain part of this combined group.
- Reference period
- 2020–2024
- Original source
-
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2024 five-year detailed tables, B15003
Source published 2026-01-29 - Ordering
- 50 states, highest exact point estimate first; no composite score
- Data and methods reviewed
- September 30, 2026 · data snapshot apd-2026-10-01-r3
Complete 50-state ranking table
Filter the list or change its display order. Positions always refer to the full 50-state ordering. Derived percentages do not have calculated margins of error here; nearby positions are not confirmed statistical ranks.
Showing all 50 states.
| Position | State | Percentage | Count in numerator | Source denominator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 47.3% | 2,357,947 | 4,987,302 |
| 2 | Colorado | 45.7% | 1,871,669 | 4,095,727 |
| 3 | Vermont | 43.8% | 204,241 | 466,428 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 43.6% | 2,845,933 | 6,523,202 |
| 5 | Maryland | 43.4% | 1,868,776 | 4,301,335 |
| 6 | Connecticut | 42.5% | 1,085,063 | 2,554,584 |
| 7 | Virginia | 42.2% | 2,532,890 | 6,007,678 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 40.6% | 414,276 | 1,019,229 |
| 9 | New York | 40.2% | 5,638,631 | 14,017,184 |
| 10 | Washington | 39.6% | 2,172,536 | 5,484,391 |
| 11 | Minnesota | 39.4% | 1,546,100 | 3,923,744 |
| 12 | Illinois | 37.8% | 3,318,149 | 8,767,004 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 37.7% | 295,838 | 783,801 |
| 14 | Utah | 37.7% | 774,301 | 2,054,893 |
| 15 | California | 37.1% | 10,039,805 | 27,073,960 |
| 16 | Oregon | 36.8% | 1,120,686 | 3,044,782 |
| 17 | Maine | 36.2% | 371,396 | 1,026,250 |
| 18 | Hawaii | 36.1% | 372,299 | 1,030,197 |
| 19 | Delaware | 35.8% | 258,594 | 723,044 |
| 20 | North Carolina | 35.7% | 2,631,218 | 7,380,330 |
| 21 | Kansas | 35.6% | 693,081 | 1,946,678 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | 35.2% | 3,231,367 | 9,189,697 |
| 23 | Montana | 35.2% | 274,703 | 781,264 |
| 24 | Georgia | 34.9% | 2,571,913 | 7,359,821 |
| 25 | Nebraska | 34.6% | 449,651 | 1,300,410 |
| 26 | Florida | 34.1% | 5,541,467 | 16,228,400 |
| 27 | Texas | 33.8% | 6,669,107 | 19,717,474 |
| 28 | Wisconsin | 33.4% | 1,368,736 | 4,099,973 |
| 29 | Arizona | 33.3% | 1,696,340 | 5,088,675 |
| 30 | North Dakota | 32.7% | 167,849 | 513,405 |
| 31 | Michigan | 32.4% | 2,273,972 | 7,008,507 |
| 32 | Missouri | 32.4% | 1,374,703 | 4,243,115 |
| 33 | South Carolina | 32.1% | 1,181,414 | 3,677,078 |
| 34 | South Dakota | 31.9% | 192,610 | 603,746 |
| 35 | Idaho | 31.8% | 406,469 | 1,278,185 |
| 36 | Alaska | 31.7% | 155,356 | 490,552 |
| 37 | Ohio | 31.5% | 2,570,052 | 8,162,216 |
| 38 | Iowa | 31.4% | 676,908 | 2,154,149 |
| 39 | Tennessee | 31.1% | 1,512,601 | 4,870,330 |
| 40 | New Mexico | 31.0% | 452,729 | 1,461,438 |
| 41 | Wyoming | 30.6% | 121,849 | 398,785 |
| 42 | Indiana | 29.5% | 1,354,639 | 4,596,004 |
| 43 | Alabama | 28.4% | 985,483 | 3,473,706 |
| 44 | Oklahoma | 28.3% | 756,531 | 2,668,805 |
| 45 | Nevada | 27.9% | 623,877 | 2,236,952 |
| 46 | Kentucky | 27.6% | 853,791 | 3,098,758 |
| 47 | Louisiana | 27.0% | 840,382 | 3,107,436 |
| 48 | Arkansas | 25.7% | 529,858 | 2,059,172 |
| 49 | Mississippi | 25.1% | 495,720 | 1,972,266 |
| 50 | West Virginia | 24.1% | 305,596 | 1,266,322 |
The downloads preserve exact values, IDs, source counts, uncertainty status, source release and original ordering. The CSV is the full 50-state table, including when the on-page filter hides rows.
National benchmark and District of Columbia
The United States value is 35.7%. The District of Columbia value is 64.2%. Both use the same source product as the state table. They do not receive a numbered state position. The national estimate is a source value or an approved calculation from national source counts; it is not an average of the state medians or percentages.
What the lower end of this table means
West Virginia has the lowest point estimate, 24.1%. The last three entries are Arkansas (25.7%), Mississippi (25.1%), West Virginia (24.1%) . This ordering is specific to bachelor’s degrees and 2020–2024; it is not a verdict on the state’s overall living conditions.
A resident credential is not a local institution outcome
Adults can earn a degree in another state and later move. A high attainment share therefore reflects the residents present in the survey population, including migration and age composition. It does not tell us where their education occurred or how many entrants finished at a particular college.
Compare income without assuming causation
Several high-attainment states also have high median household incomes. The measures use different universes: adults for attainment, households for income. This descriptive association does not estimate the return to a degree, control for occupations or prices, or predict a student’s future salary.
Definition, calculation and uncertainty
Residents age 25 and older who completed at least a bachelor’s degree. Educational attainment describes adult residents, not graduation rates or the performance of schools in the area.
100 × (B15003_022E + B15003_023E + B15003_024E + B15003_025E) / (B15003_001E)
Source component margins of error are retained in the raw evidence. A derived percentage needs an appropriate uncertainty calculation; adding component margins of error would not provide one. This table orders point estimates without statistical rank intervals. Sorting uses full stored precision. Exact equal values share a position; the next position skips the tied places. A missing, suppressed or unavailable estimate would be excluded and identified rather than converted to zero.
Sources and reproducibility
Original source table and documentation · Census guidance on comparing ACS estimates · Population Estimates Program methods .
Editorial ordering release apd-editorial-2026-10-01-r4 uses the unchanged data snapshot apd-2026-10-01-r3. Cite the Census source product, table, 2020–2024, the indicator definition and this page’s snapshot. The retained JSON query makes the inclusion rule, calculation and sort direction explicit. An upstream revision will require a new approved release rather than rewriting this result.