America's Best and Worst Educated States

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/10/15/americas-best-and-worst-educated-states/

From Fox, so you know it's not the liberal media! Everyone should see the pattern in red vs. blue states; no Republican states are in the top 10, and only one Democratic states is in the bottom 10. Funny how that works, eh?


10 best-educated states:

10. Minnesota
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 32.4%
> Median household income: $56,954 (11th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 11.9% (11th lowest)

Nearly one in three Minnesota adults aged 25 or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher, the 10th-highest percentage in the country. Minnesota’s educational attainment at the earliest levels is even higher than it is at the college level. Just 4.7% of adults had started — but not completed — high school, compared to the 8.1% of adults who fell into that category nationally. Just 8% of Minnesotans 25 or older do not have a high school diploma, compared to the 14.1% nationwide. However, among states with the most college graduates, Minnesota has fewer adults who go on to the next level of education. Only 10.5% of adults have graduate or professional degrees, the 17th highest nationwide.

9. New York
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 32.9%
> Median household income: $55,246 (16th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 16.0% (21st highest)

More than 14% of New Yorkers have an advanced degree, one of the highest percentages in the U.S. However, while many New Yorkers are highly educated, another large group lacks basic education. Just 85% of New Yorkers have at least a high school diploma, close to 1 percentage point below the national rate. Educational attainment dramatically affects New York residents’ ability to earn a living, where the median annual earnings for someone with only a high school diploma is $28,405, less than half the median earnings of $68,079 for someone with a graduate or professional degree.

8. New Hampshire
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 33.4%
> Median household income: $62,647 (6th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 8.8% (the least)

More New Hampshire adults have at least completed high school than all but five states — 91.4%, compared to the national rate of 85.9%. The benefits for those 33.4% who have at least a bachelor’s degree are quite high. The state poverty rate is 8.8%, which is already the lowest in the country. Meanwhile, just 2.2% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree live below the poverty line, also the lowest rate in the country.

7. Virginia
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 35.1%
> Median household income: $61,882 (7th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 11.5% (tied-8th lowest)

Although Virginia is one of the nation’s most-educated states, with 20.5% of adults with just bachelor’s degrees and another 14.6% with advanced degrees, the state still struggles to graduate many students from high school. According to the Census Bureau, only 87.8% of adult Virginians have high school diplomas — worse than any of the most-educated states, except New York. The median earnings for adults without high school diplomas is just $19,892 a year, compared to the median of $78,532 for residents with advanced degrees.

6. New Jersey
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 35.3%
> Median household income: $67,458 (3rd highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 10.4% (3rd lowest)

New Jersey is one of the most well-to-do states in the country, with just 10.4% of residents living below the poverty level, compared to a national rate of 15.9%. It also has the third-highest median household income in the country, at $67,458. Residents with bachelor’s degree also earn more than college graduates of any other state, at $60,107. The national median earnings for bachelor’s degree recipients is $48,309. More than 21% of New Jersey adults without a high school degree were living below the poverty line, compared to the just 3.1% of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

5. Vermont
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 35.4%
> Median household income: $52,776 (19th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 11.5% (tied-8th lowest)

In Vermont, 35.4% of adult residents have at least a college degree, with 21.4% of the population holding a bachelor’s and another 14% holding a master’s, doctorate, or professional degree. Median earnings for adults with advanced degrees in Vermont is $50,593 a year — over $13,000 less than the national median. Only 2.8% of residents have less than a ninth grade education, less than half of the 6% nationwide, and another 5.5% finished ninth grade but dropped out of high school, one of the lowest rates in the nation. Among those aged 16 to 19, 97.2% were either in school or had graduated — the third-highest rate in the nation.

4. Connecticut
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 36.2%
> Median household income: $65,753 (4th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 10.9% (5th lowest)

In Connecticut, an estimated 15.7% of the adult population has either a graduate or professional degree, one of the highest percentages in the U.S., behind only Massachusetts and Maryland. The median annual earnings for this group is $75,875, higher than all but a handful of states — twice the median earnings for an adult with only a high school diploma. Residents who don’t earn college also do well; median earnings for the group was $32,869, higher than in any other state.

3. Colorado
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 36.7%
> Median household income: $55,387 (15th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 13.5% (18th lowest)

Colorado residents are among the most-educated people in the country — 23.3% of the adults have completed up to a bachelor’s degrees and another 13.4% have also completed advanced degrees. Colorado’s high school participation and graduation rates below the national average. Only 94.1% of residents aged 16 to 19 are either in high school or have graduated.

2. Maryland
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 36.9%
> Median household income: $70,004 (the highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 10.1% (2nd lowest)

In Maryland, 16.5% of the population holds a graduate or professional degree of some kind, behind only Massachusetts. Residents with these degrees are among the highest paid in the country, with median annual earnings of $77,166, behind only New Jersey and Virginia. Only one state — New Hampshire — has a lower poverty rate than Maryland’s 10.1%. This rate is likely driven downwards by the 36.9% of adults who have college degrees, among whom the poverty rate is just 3.2%.

1. Massachusetts
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 39.1%
> Median household income: $62,859 (5th highest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 11.6% (9th lowest)

In Massachusetts, 39.1% of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree, more than 10 percentage points above the national rate of 28.5%. Additionally, 16.8% of adults have a graduate or professional degree, again the highest percentage in the nation. Although the median annual earnings of $53,765 for those with a bachelor’s degree is very high, adults with either a graduate or a professional degree earn far more. Their median earnings exceed $70,000. Academic success is not limited to adults, as nearly 97% of individuals between the ages of 16 and 19 are either enrolled in high school or have graduated — one of the country’s highest rates.



10 Worst-Educated States

10. Oklahoma
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 23.8%
> Median household income: $43,225 (10th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 17.2% (16th highest)


9. Tennessee
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 23.6%
> Median household income: $41,693 (6th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 18.3% (12th highest)



8. Indiana
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 23.0%
> Median household income: $46,438 (20th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 16.0% (21st highest)



7. Nevada
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 22.5%
> Median household income: $48,927 (24th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 15.9% (23rd highest)



6. Alabama
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 22.3%
> Median household income: $41,415 (5th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 19.0% (7th highest)



5. Louisiana
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 21.1%
> Median household income: $41,734 (7th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 20.4% (3rd highest)



4. Kentucky
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 21.1%
> Median household income: $41,141 (4th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 19.1% (5th highest)


3. Arkansas
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 20.3%
> Median household income: $38,758 (3rd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 19.5% (4th highest)



2. Mississippi
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 19.8%
> Median household income: $36,919 (the lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 22.6% (the highest)



1. West Virginia
> Bachelor’s degree or higher: 18.5%
> Median household income: $38,482 (2nd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty level: 18.6% (10th highest)

 

With the exception of 2 states, they are also all eastern seaboard where all the money is. I wouldn't necessarily consider Virginia a "blue" state because they voted for Obama. Look at their internal delegate makeup. Many of them simply didn't like Romney.

 

You think education doesn't contribute to the concentration of wealth?

 

So, if in four years we're even worse off, and there is a direct correlation between Obama's policies and the state of things, what would that suggest about 'educated' people?

 

I don't believe I said that. I believe I was attempting to imply that the eastern seaboard is the oldest, most densely populated and established area of the country.

 

west virginia and mississipi have more people living in poverty than have degrees. amazing.

 

The density of population has nothing to do with it; look at the statistics they used to gauge educational attainment; it was based on percentages, not total number of educated individuals.

 

are you against education?

 

Not at all. I'm just annoyed by the suggestions that education necessarily means intelligence, and that the intelligent vote a certain way, or favor certain politics.

 

That you can be extremely intelligent, but not perfect?

 

No, that you can be highly educated, but still dumb as a lump of coal.

 

Have you ever considered that maybe the Northern Eastern (and Western) coastal states are blue states BECAUSE they are more educated AND that it may be because they are more educated that they are wealthier. . .and that they attract more educated, more open minded , and more forward looking people AND sunup industries, while the less educated, more traditional, close minded and bigoted red states is struggling to retain sundown industries and are not able to attract industries that require more skilled, more educated workers?

 

More education means more knowledge, and in consequence people would be more informed about everything, even politics and that also leads to some thinking that someone uneducated won't.

For example, all my friends of my town are undereducated, so they are more conservative. People that I've met from other places and more educated all of them are more leftist. So yes, education influences a lot in your thinking and how you interpret the data that you receive.

It does not mean that you are more intelligent, but probably you will be, or at least you will be more wise than anyone with less studies, except if that person has read a lot, then is possible that levels are similar, but by the contrary, and that person only watches TV to get information(mainly between uneducated people, however it is not always real) you will be totally uninformed.

 

Education generally correlates with prosperity.

 

What do you reckon the average IQ of an Anarchist is?

 

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/05/04/report-nearly-half-of-detroiters-cant-read/

Nearly Half of (D)etroiters cant Read

.......Liberalism realized
.
.

 

I give you statistics that take into account the entire country, and you give me a single city. You clearly don't understand how statistics work, meaning you're most likely a Republican.

 

You're trying to play a cat and mouse game. If you knew anything about the history of education, you'd know that the cat (states) got the mouse (education) first. If these figures were available a century ago, they'd hardly be any different, and these same patterns were developing clearly two centuries ago (some obvious exception, like OK, aside).

 

education certainly cultivates intelligence

 

No....you decided to look at education at the state level.......when the municipal level gives a much more accurate depiction.

And who could blame you......as the Liberal Cities/Sh'tholes demonstrate how most Democrat voters are as (D)umb as a bag of hair.
.
.

 

It's not really a "dumb" thing, though. Governing a nation pretty much cones down to luck. Unless you've done it before and know what works and what doesn't, anything you try could potentially cause prosperity, collapse, or stagnation.

 

I said that they were more educated because they were wealthier. They are wealthier because they are older and more densely populated with old money, solid businesses and infrastructures.

Why they are "blue" is because these "old" corporations are highly entrenched in the federal government and have a culture that promotes those centrist, statist values.

 

Says the guy who thinks putting parentheses around the letter "D" is clever.

 

Would you take money to stop with the (D) and (R) now that the election is over?

 

How does the municipal level give you a more accurate depiction, especially when you choose one data point out of 36,011?