Canada vs United States: Share of the population with at least some formal education
Canada
99.6%
in 2020
United States
99.6%
in 2020
Canada rank
12th
United States rank
12th
Share of the population with at least some formal education over time
- Canada
- United States
How they compare
Canada currently reports 99.6% against 99.6% in United States, a difference of 0.0%.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was United States ahead.
Canada ranks 12th and United States ranks 12th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 4 and United States in 11.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 71.4% | 77.5% | 6.1% | United States |
| 1880s | 76.2% | 87.5% | 11.3% | United States |
| 1890s | 80.2% | 92.4% | 12.2% | United States |
| 1900s | 85.1% | 94.7% | 9.6% | United States |
| 1910s | 87.5% | 95.3% | 7.8% | United States |
| 1920s | 92.0% | 95.6% | 3.6% | United States |
| 1930s | 95.5% | 96.6% | 1.1% | United States |
| 1940s | 97.5% | 97.7% | 0.2% | United States |
| 1950s | 98.6% | 98.4% | 0.2% | Canada |
| 1960s | 99.0% | 98.8% | 0.2% | Canada |
| 1970s | 99.2% | 99.0% | 0.2% | Canada |
| 1980s | 99.2% | 99.2% | 0.0% | United States |
| 1990s | 99.5% | 99.3% | 0.2% | Canada |
| 2000s | 99.5% | 99.7% | 0.2% | United States |
| 2010s | 99.5% | 99.7% | 0.2% | United States |
| 2020s | 99.6% | 99.6% | 0.0% | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with at least some formal education, Canada or United States?
- Canada, at 99.6% against 99.6% in United States as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with at least some formal education between Canada and United States?
- 0.0%, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and United States?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Canada and United States rank globally for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Canada ranks 12th and United States ranks 12th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.