The personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on 2020’s most and least educated states in America. Virginia came in at no. 6.
In order to determine where the most educated Americans live, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 18 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of adults aged 25 and older with at least a high school diploma to average university quality to gender gap in educational attainment.
Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the “most educated.” In certain metrics where women showed an advantage over men and blacks over whites, WalletHub gave equal credit to the states with no gender/racial inequality.
WalletHub then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the sample.
How educated is Virginia? (1=Most; 25=Avg.):
29th – % of High-School Diploma Holders
9th – % of Associate’s Degree Holders or College-Experienced Adults
6th – % of Bachelor’s Degree Holders
4th – % of Graduate- or Professional-Degree Holders
24th – Avg. University Quality
1st – Gender Gap in Educational Attainment
The survey’s results in order from most educated to least educated states: 1. Massachusetts 2. Maryland 3. Colorado 4. Vermont 5. Connecticut 6. Virginia 7. Washington 8. New Hampshire 9. New Jersey 10. Minnesota 11. Utah 12. Illinois 13. New York 14. Oregon 15. Hawaii 16. Wyoming 17. Delaware 18. Maine 19. Montana 20. North Dakota 21. Wisconsin. 22. Rhode Island 23. Nebraska 24. Kansas 25. California 26. Alaska 27. Florida 28. Michigan 29. Iowa 30. Pennsylvania 31. North Carolina 32. Missouri 33. Ohio 34. Georgia 35. South Dakota 36. Idaho 37. Indiana 38. Arizona 39. Texas 40. Oklahoma 41. Tennessee 42. New Mexico 43. Nevada 44. South Carolina 45. Kentucky 46. Alabama 47. Arkansas 48. Louisiana 49. West Virginia 50. Mississippi
