The performance of public schools in the US varies significantly by state. A new study by personal finance site WalletHub evaluated 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 indicators in two main categories: quality and safety. Quality accounted for 80% of the score, while safety made up 20%.
Quality indicators included graduation rates, standardized test scores, and student-teacher ratio, while the safety category examined factors such as drug use, bullying, school attacks, and disciplinary incidents. Data for the study was sourced from institutions including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State-by-State Public School Rankings (Worst to Best)
- New Mexico: Lowest math and reading test scores, lowest average SAT score.
- Alaska: Highest dropout rate, lowest four-year high school graduation rate; second-lowest reading and math test scores, highest bullying rate.
- Oklahoma: Fourth-highest dropout rate, fourth-lowest reading test scores, lowest average ACT score (tied with Nevada).
- Oregon: Ranked 47th in quality, 45th in safety.
- West Virginia: Fourth-lowest dropout rate (tied with New Hampshire and Alabama), but fourth-lowest math scores, third-lowest reading scores, second-lowest average SAT score; second-highest bullying rate.
- Arizona: Lowest average ACT score (tied with Oklahoma and Nevada).
- Nevada: Lowest average ACT score, third-worst student-teacher ratio.
- Louisiana: Highest rate of high school students threatened or injured; fourth-lowest average ACT score (tied with Mississippi and North Carolina).
- Alabama: Fourth-lowest dropout rate, but third-highest rate of high school students threatened or injured.
- Hawaii: Third-lowest bullying rate.
- Missouri: Ranked 36th in quality, last in safety; 10th in high school graduation rate.
- Idaho: Second-highest dropout rate; fifth-highest rate of high school students threatened or injured (tied with Texas).
- Arkansas: Ranked 37th in safety, 39th in quality.
- South Carolina: Ranked 30th in safety, 41st in quality.
- Mississippi: Lowest dropout rate (tied with New Jersey), but fourth-lowest average ACT score, second-highest rate of students threatened or injured.
- Ohio: Ranked 33rd in safety, 38th in quality.
- Kansas: Fourth-highest average SAT score (tied with Wisconsin), but fourth-highest rate of students threatened or injured.
- Georgia: Ranked 35th in quality, 42nd in safety.
- Michigan: Ranked 24th in safety, 37th in quality.
- Texas: Fifth-highest rate of students threatened or injured (tied with Idaho).
- California: Third-highest average ACT score (tied with Massachusetts), second-lowest rate of students threatened or injured, but worst student-teacher ratio.
- District of Columbia: Lowest bullying rate, highest average ACT score, second-best student-teacher ratio; but fourth-lowest average SAT score, third-lowest math scores, highest dropout rate.
- North Carolina: Third-lowest rate of students threatened or injured.
- Washington: Fifth-highest dropout rate (tied with Alaska).
- Colorado: Third-highest reading test scores.
- South Dakota: Ranked 23rd in safety.
- Montana: Ranked 20th in quality, 29th in safety.
- Illinois: Ranked 19th in quality, 28th in safety.
- Minnesota: Ranked 18th in quality, third-highest 4th and 8th grade math scores; 32nd in safety.
- Tennessee: Ranked 12th in quality, 44th in safety.
- Iowa: Highest average SAT score; ranked 23rd in quality, 22nd in safety, fifth-highest bullying rate.
- Wyoming: Ranked 15th in quality, 31st in safety, fourth-highest bullying rate.
- Utah: Second-highest math scores, 22nd in quality; second-worst student-teacher ratio, 16th in safety.
- Pennsylvania: Ranked 13th in quality, 27th in safety.
- Kentucky: Ranked 21st in quality, 12th in safety; highest high school graduation rate.
- Delaware: Ranked 32nd in quality, 1st in safety; lowest rate of students threatened or injured with a weapon, second-lowest bullying rate.
- Indiana: Ranked 17th in quality, 11th in safety.
- Maryland: Ranked 26th in quality, 4th in safety.
- Florida: Ranked 16th in quality, 9th in safety.
- Maine: Ranked 3rd in safety, 24th in quality.
- Nebraska: Second-highest average SAT score (tied with North Dakota); ranked 14th in quality, 10th in safety.
- North Dakota: Ranked 8th in quality, 26th in safety; second-highest average SAT score.
- Rhode Island: Ranked 10th in quality, 8th in safety.
- New York: Ranked 6th in quality, 19th in safety.
- Vermont: Best student-teacher ratio; ranked 7th in quality, 13th in safety.
- Virginia: Ranked 9th in quality, 5th in safety; fifth-lowest bullying rate.
- Wisconsin: Ranked 5th in quality, 18th in safety; fourth-highest average SAT score (tied with Kansas).
- New Hampshire: Ranked 4th in quality, 15th in safety; fourth-lowest dropout rate, fourth-highest reading and math scores.
- New Jersey: Second-highest 4th and 8th grade reading scores, fifth-highest math scores; 8.5% of its schools are among the top 700 in the nation; ranked 2nd in quality, 20th in safety.
- Connecticut: Ranked 3rd in quality, 6th in safety; high ACT scores, seventh-best student-teacher ratio, lowest rate of illegal drugs found on school grounds.
- Massachusetts: Ranked first overall with strong performance in both quality and safety.
