Inequality in education in United States
United States: Inequality in education was 0.0266 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
0.0266
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
163rd
of 184 countries
All-time high
0.0288
in 2010
All-time low
0.0257
in 2019
Years of data
14
2010–2023
Inequality in education in United States, 2010–2023
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
United States recorded 0.0266 for inequality in education in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and down 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, inequality in education in United States peaked at 0.0288 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.0257, in 2019.
That places United States 163rd out of 184 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Inequality in education in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.0288 | — |
| 2011 | 0.0282 | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 0.0279 | -0.9% |
| 2013 | 0.0282 | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 0.0281 | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 0.0274 | -2.6% |
| 2016 | 0.0264 | -3.6% |
| 2017 | 0.0264 | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.0267 | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 0.0257 | -3.4% |
| 2020 | 0.0257 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.0267 | +3.8% |
| 2022 | 0.0265 | -0.9% |
| 2023 | 0.0266 | +0.3% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.0266 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.0476, 56% of the median. (61 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.0274 | 0.0257 | 0.0288 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.0264 | 0.0257 | 0.0267 | 4 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 96.21 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 96.02 (2022)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 1.74 million (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 419,732 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 4.34 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 4.14 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 25.35 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 23.83 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.33 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is inequality in education in United States?
- Inequality in education in United States was 0.0266 in 2023, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest inequality in education recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.0288 in 2010.
- What is the lowest inequality in education recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0257 in 2019.
- How does United States rank for inequality in education?
- United States ranks 163rd out of 184 countries with data for 2023.
- Is inequality in education rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Inequality in education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).