Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 99.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States is 99.0%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States peaked at 99.0% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 60.9%, in 1970.
United States ranks 8th of 94 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 60.9% | — |
| 2004 | 93.7% | +53.8% |
| 2005 | 93.5% | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 94.4% | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 98.1% | +4.0% |
| 2008 | 94.7% | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 94.9% | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 95.0% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 95.2% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 95.6% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 95.5% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 95.5% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 95.9% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 96.1% | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 98.6% | +2.5% |
| 2018 | 96.6% | -2.0% |
| 2019 | 98.7% | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 97.1% | -1.6% |
| 2021 | 98.9% | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 97.1% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 98.9% | +1.8% |
| 2024 | 99.0% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 60.9% | 60.9% | 60.9% | 1 |
| 2000s | 94.9% | 93.5% | 98.1% | 6 |
| 2010s | 96.2% | 95.0% | 98.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 98.2% | 97.1% | 99.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 1.06 % change on previous year (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 1.56 million (2023)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 223,288 (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 10.46 million (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 0.1542 % change on previous year (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number), gaps 7.59 million (2023)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, male (number) 2.34 % change on previous year (2023)
- Theoretical duration of primary education (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of pre-primary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (pre-primary to post-secondary non) 0.0494 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States was 99.0% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 99.0% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.9% in 1970.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- United States ranks 8th out of 94 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release