Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or was 88.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States, 1994–2024
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 88.0%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and down 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States peaked at 90.6% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 81.6%, in 1995.
That places United States 21st out of 31 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 81.9% | — |
| 1995 | 81.6% | -0.3% |
| 1996 | 82.6% | +1.1% |
| 1997 | 82.7% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 82.8% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 83.5% | +0.8% |
| 2000 | 83.9% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 84.1% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 84.6% | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 84.7% | +0.1% |
| 2004 | 84.9% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 85.2% | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 85.7% | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 86.4% | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 86.3% | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 86.4% | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 86.7% | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 86.8% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 87.4% | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 88.1% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 88.1% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 88.3% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 88.8% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 89.4% | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 89.9% | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 89.7% | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 90.6% | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 90.6% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 87.7% | -3.3% |
| 2023 | 87.5% | -0.1% |
| 2024 | 88.0% | +0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 82.5% | 81.6% | 83.5% | 6 |
| 2000s | 85.2% | 83.9% | 86.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 88.3% | 86.7% | 89.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 88.9% | 87.5% | 90.6% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- 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)
- Theoretical duration of lower secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,022 tertiary education (2023)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth 0.0495 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 1.78 million (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (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 88.0% 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 90.6% in 2021.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 81.6% in 1995.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed lower secondary education or?
- United States ranks 21st out of 31 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 down 0.2%. 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, immigrant background, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release