Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America
United States of America: Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both was 4.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America, 2000–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America stood at 4.6%.
That represents a change of up 2.2% on the previous year and down 16.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America peaked at 8.7% in 2003 and was at its lowest, 4.3%, in 2020.
United States of America ranks 169th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6.6% | — |
| 2001 | 7.5% | +13.6% |
| 2002 | 8.5% | +13.3% |
| 2003 | 8.7% | +2.4% |
| 2004 | 7.6% | -12.6% |
| 2005 | 6.7% | -11.8% |
| 2006 | 6.9% | +3.0% |
| 2007 | 7.5% | +8.7% |
| 2008 | 7.6% | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 7.1% | -6.6% |
| 2010 | 6.6% | -7.0% |
| 2011 | 6.5% | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 6.5% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 6.2% | -4.6% |
| 2014 | 5.8% | -6.5% |
| 2015 | 5.5% | -5.2% |
| 2016 | 5.5% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 5.4% | -1.8% |
| 2018 | 5.0% | -7.4% |
| 2019 | 4.6% | -8.0% |
| 2020 | 4.3% | -6.5% |
| 2021 | 4.3% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 4.4% | +2.3% |
| 2023 | 4.5% | +2.3% |
| 2024 | 4.5% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 4.6% | +2.2% |
United States of America compared with similar countries
- United States of America's 4.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 5.6%, 82% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7.5% | 6.6% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.8% | 4.6% | 6.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.4% | 4.3% | 4.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More education data for United States of America
- 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)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0708 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America?
- Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both in United States of America was 4.6% in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 8.7% in 2003.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.3% in 2020.
- How does United States of America rank for out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both?
- United States of America ranks 169th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States of America data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for youth of upper secondary school age, both sexes (modelled data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release