Share of the population with at least some formal education in United States
United States: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 99.6% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of the population with at least some formal education in United States, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States recorded 99.6% for share of the population with at least some formal education in 2020.
The figure is down 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in United States peaked at 99.7% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 74.8%, in 1870.
United States ranks 12th of 111 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 77.5% | 74.8% | 80.3% | 2 |
| 1880s | 87.5% | 85.4% | 89.6% | 2 |
| 1890s | 92.4% | 91.6% | 93.2% | 2 |
| 1900s | 94.7% | 94.3% | 95.1% | 2 |
| 1910s | 95.3% | 95.3% | 95.4% | 2 |
| 1920s | 95.6% | 95.4% | 95.7% | 2 |
| 1930s | 96.6% | 96.3% | 96.9% | 2 |
| 1940s | 97.7% | 97.4% | 97.9% | 2 |
| 1950s | 98.4% | 98.3% | 98.5% | 2 |
| 1960s | 98.8% | 98.8% | 98.9% | 2 |
| 1970s | 99.0% | 99.0% | 99.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 99.2% | 99.1% | 99.4% | 2 |
| 1990s | 99.3% | 99.0% | 99.6% | 2 |
| 2000s | 99.7% | 99.7% | 99.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 99.7% | 99.7% | 99.7% | 2 |
| 2020s | 99.6% | 99.6% | 99.6% | 1 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 1.78 million (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.62 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in United States?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in United States was 99.6% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 99.7% in 2000.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 74.8% in 1870.
- How does United States rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- United States ranks 12th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.