Education by State
Working out where to live is all about finding the best balance for you, your family, and the folks you care about the most. When it comes to your kids, many parents would want to send them to school to get the best out of life. That doesn’t necessarily mean going to Harvard. While Covid has disrupted all sorts of things, education has continued even if it has been done remotely. Higher education particularly has a big role in determining the type of future a person has in America and the world in general.
Research shows that overall, the better educated you are, the more high-quality opportunities are available to you. Even the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that individuals who have higher education earn more money than those who do not. In today's uncertain job market with layoffs and companies shutting their doors, it is important to note that the research also points to the fact that if you have had any form of higher education you also have a lower probability of unemployment.
Another factor is your health. Being educated brings financial security as well as a healthier lifestyle and usually better medical care. 66 percent of Americans who didn’t graduate from college wished that they had. The saying that you only have 20/20 vision in hindsight is appropriate. 62 percent feel that going to college would have improved their present standard of living significantly.
Almost 20 million students are thought to be headed to colleges and universities in the fall when they are open. Close to 56 million students will attend elementary, middle, and high schools all across the nation, which (even using crude math and not taking into account age gaps and timelines) begs the question, what will happen to the other 36 million who do not attend college?
Research by Stacker using a weighted index that measures the relative education level for every state shows that some states have higher education levels than others.
At the top is Massachusetts with an Education index of 100. Only 4.4 percent of the population have less than a High School education. 19.6 percent have a Graduate or professional degree. Compare that to Number Two, Colorado where 15.3 percent have a graduate or professional degree.
New Yorkers will be annoyed to find that, even though they score high overall with an Education index of 96.68, they still come in at 18th, while New Jersey with an overall Education Index of 98.01 beats them and managed to rank in the top 10! Strangely, New York recorded having folks who have earned a Graduate or professional degree at 16 percent while New Jersey came in at a fraction lower at 15 and a half percent.
Utah was edged out of the top 10, but got a respectable 11th spot, while Hawaii ranked in the top 20 at 16th with an Education index of 96.79. At the bottom of the table coming in at number 50th was West Virginia, with an overall Education index of 91.45.
At 45 was Nevada with a 93.20 Education index.
No matter where you live, it's good to know that everywhere in our country has education available and most are taking advantage of it. Even number 50 has an overall index of over 90. The fact is, there’s room for improvement and more people should be getting higher education.
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