Every US State Ranked by High School Graduation Rate (Lowest to Highest)
Where a student attends high school in America can significantly impact their likelihood of graduating on time. The gap between states is substantial: Alaska sees just 79.87% of students earn their diplomas within four years, while Kentucky leads the nation at 93.60%.
Why Graduation Rates Matter
High school graduation rates serve as a key metric for evaluating educational achievement and tracking school system performance. However, these figures come with important caveats. Each state sets its own diploma requirements, meaning the rigor and coursework needed to graduate can differ dramatically across state lines.
Despite these variations, earning a high school diploma carries real economic weight. Census data shows that adults 25 and older with a high school degree earn an average of $8,216 more annually than those without one.
Methodology
This ranking uses the most recent data available from state education agencies and public data portals. While the US Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics publishes official graduation rates, that data typically lags by two years due to adjustment processes. The latest federal data, released in 2024, covers the 2021-2022 school year.
Our compilation features more current figures, with most states reporting 2024-2025 school year data. Seven states—Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Texas—only had 2023-2024 data publicly available.
Most states use the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, which tracks first-time ninth graders who earn a regular diploma within four years. This formula accounts for students transferring in or out of the system, as well as those who emigrate or pass away.
For context, we've also included each state's per-pupil education spending and median household income.
The Rankings: From Lowest to Highest
### 50. Alaska
**Graduation Rate:** 79.87%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $21,004
**Median Household Income:** $95,665
### 49. Arizona
**Graduation Rate:** 80.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,003
**Median Household Income:** $81,486
### 48. New Mexico
**Graduation Rate:** 80.63%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $17,664
**Median Household Income:** $67,816
### 47. Vermont
**Graduation Rate:** 82.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $28,818
**Median Household Income:** $82,730
### 46. Oklahoma
**Graduation Rate:** 82.20%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,162
**Median Household Income:** $66,148
### 45. Idaho
**Graduation Rate:** 82.50%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $11,060
**Median Household Income:** $81,166
### 44. Washington
**Graduation Rate:** 82.64%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $18,564
**Median Household Income:** $99,389
### 43. Oregon
**Graduation Rate:** 83.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $18,083
**Median Household Income:** $85,220
### 42. Wyoming
**Graduation Rate:** 83.10%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $20,521
**Median Household Income:** $75,532
### 41. North Dakota
**Graduation Rate:** 84.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $17,102
**Median Household Income:** $77,871
### 40. Michigan
**Graduation Rate:** 84.01%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $18,314
**Median Household Income:** $72,389
### 39. Rhode Island
**Graduation Rate:** 84.10%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $22,110
**Median Household Income:** $83,504
### 38. Minnesota
**Graduation Rate:** 84.90%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $17,098
**Median Household Income:** $87,117
### 37. Louisiana
**Graduation Rate:** 85.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,581
**Median Household Income:** $60,986
### 36. Nevada
**Graduation Rate:** 85.40%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $14,812
**Median Household Income:** $81,134
### 35. Montana
**Graduation Rate:** 85.41%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $13,656
**Median Household Income:** $75,340
### 34. New York
**Graduation Rate:** 85.50%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $31,918
**Median Household Income:** $85,820
### 33. Colorado
**Graduation Rate:** 85.60%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,908
**Median Household Income:** $97,113
### 31. (Tie) Hawaii
**Graduation Rate:** 86.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $23,878
**Median Household Income:** $100,745
### 31. (Tie) South Dakota
**Graduation Rate:** 86.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,828
**Median Household Income:** $76,881
### 30. Maryland
**Graduation Rate:** 86.40%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $20,208
**Median Household Income:** $102,905
### 29. South Carolina
**Graduation Rate:** 86.70%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,060
**Median Household Income:** $72,350
### 28. Georgia
**Graduation Rate:** 87.20%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,833
**Median Household Income:** $79,991
### 26. (Tie) California
**Graduation Rate:** 87.50%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $20,791
**Median Household Income:** $100,149
### 26. (Tie) North Carolina
**Graduation Rate:** 87.50%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,995
**Median Household Income:** $73,958
### 25. New Hampshire
**Graduation Rate:** 87.54%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $22,978
**Median Household Income:** $99,782
### 24. Nebraska
**Graduation Rate:** 87.90%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $16,147
**Median Household Income:** $76,376
### 23. Ohio
**Graduation Rate:** 88.30%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $17,257
**Median Household Income:** $72,212
### 22. Iowa
**Graduation Rate:** 88.80%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $14,369
**Median Household Income:** $75,501
### 21. Connecticut
**Graduation Rate:** 88.90%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $26,316
**Median Household Income:** $96,049
### 20. Illinois
**Graduation Rate:** 89.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $21,776
**Median Household Income:** $83,211
### 19. Delaware
**Graduation Rate:** 89.05%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $22,201
**Median Household Income:** $87,534
### 18. Maine
**Graduation Rate:** 89.10%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $19,962
**Median Household Income:** $76,442
### 17. Pennsylvania
**Graduation Rate:** 89.11%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $21,091
**Median Household Income:** $77,545
### 16. Mississippi
**Graduation Rate:** 89.20%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,324
**Median Household Income:** $59,127
### 15. Massachusetts
**Graduation Rate:** 89.30%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $24,429
**Median Household Income:** $104,828
### 14. Kansas
**Graduation Rate:** 89.50%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,558
**Median Household Income:** $75,514
### 13. Utah
**Graduation Rate:** 89.80%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $11,347
**Median Household Income:** $96,658
### 12. Arkansas
**Graduation Rate:** 90.16%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $13,873
**Median Household Income:** $62,106
### 11. Texas
**Graduation Rate:** 90.70%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,895
**Median Household Income:** $79,721
### 10. Missouri
**Graduation Rate:** 91.40%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $14,241
**Median Household Income:** $71,589
### 9. New Jersey
**Graduation Rate:** 91.80%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $27,234
**Median Household Income:** $104,294
### 8. Indiana
**Graduation Rate:** 91.83%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $13,622
**Median Household Income:** $71,959
### 7. Wisconsin
**Graduation Rate:** 92.00%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,952
**Median Household Income:** $77,488
### 6. Florida
**Graduation Rate:** 92.20%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,693
**Median Household Income:** $77,735
### 5. Tennessee
**Graduation Rate:** 92.30%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $12,882
**Median Household Income:** $71,997
### 4. Virginia
**Graduation Rate:** 92.70%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $17,104
**Median Household Income:** $92,090
### 3. Alabama
**Graduation Rate:** 92.77%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $13,627
**Median Household Income:** $66,659
### 2. West Virginia
**Graduation Rate:** 92.80%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $15,640
**Median Household Income:** $60,798
### 1. Kentucky
**Graduation Rate:** 93.60%
**Per-Pupil Spending:** $14,596
**Median Household Income:** $64,526
Key Takeaways
The data reveals interesting patterns. Kentucky tops the nation despite having one of the lower median household incomes ($64,526) and modest per-pupil spending ($14,596). Meanwhile, states like New York and Vermont spend over $28,000 and $31,000 per pupil, respectively, yet rank in the bottom third for graduation rates.
Alaska's position at the bottom is particularly notable given its high per-pupil spending of $21,004 and median household income of $95,665—both well above national averages.
The rankings suggest that factors beyond funding and household wealth—such as state policies, graduation requirements, support systems, and regional challenges—play crucial roles in determining whether students successfully complete high school.
More Is Never Enough: Why Today's College Students Feel Like They Can Never Measure Up
Something has quietly changed for college students over the past three decades — and it's not just the cost of tuition or the job market. The pressure to be perfect has been building, slowly and steadily, for 35 years. And for the generation on campuses today, it has reached a level that would have felt extreme even to their parents.
A sweeping new study published in Psychological Bulletin tracked perfectionism across nearly 83,000 college students in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., pulling together data collected from 1989 all the way through 2025. What researchers found wasn't just that perfectionism is rising — it's accelerating, with the sharpest climb beginning in the early 2000s and no sign of slowing down.
It's not about having high standards. It's about fear.
There's a difference between wanting to do your best and being terrified of falling short. Psychologists distinguish between the two, and both are on the rise — but the more troubling kind is growing faster.
The biggest increase wasn't in students holding themselves to high personal standards. I was worried about making mistakes. That particular measure climbed at nearly four times the rate of everything else. Students aren't just ambitious. They're anxious, second-guessing themselves, and increasingly convinced that everyone around them — parents, professors, society at large — is watching and expecting perfection.
In other words, it's not the drive to succeed that's skyrocketing. It's the dread of failing.
This isn't just stress. It has real mental health consequences.
One might hope that as perfectionism becomes more common, it loses some of its sting — that students would adapt, normalize it, and find ways to cope. That's not what the data shows. Across the full 35 years of research, the link between perfectionism and depression and anxiety remained completely stable. It didn't weaken. It didn't soften.
What that means, practically, is this: as each new generation of students becomes more perfectionistic, a larger share of them are likely to experience serious mental health struggles as a result. Researchers describe this as a growing public health concern — not a personality quirk, not a phase, but a pattern affecting millions of young people at a population level.
What's driving it?
It would be easy to chalk this up to social media, or helicopter parenting, or kids who just can't handle pressure. But the researchers looked beyond individual explanations and found something more structural. When they brought in economic data, a clear pattern emerged: rising income inequality and economic stagnation both correlated with steeper increases in perfectionism. When society becomes more unequal, when opportunities feel scarcer, and the stakes feel higher, young people internalize that pressure.
The finish line keeps moving. The judges are everywhere. And stumbling, it seems, is simply not an option.
What needs to change?
Individual therapy helps. Better coping strategies matter. But the researchers are clear that personal solutions alone won't fix what is, at its root, a cultural and economic problem. Addressing the mental health crisis among young people will mean reckoning honestly with the world we've built — one where the pressure to be flawless starts early, compounds over time, and, for too many students, never lets up.
