States Ranked: Smartest to Dumbest

The smartest state in the union for the second consecutive year is Massachusetts. The dumbest, for the third year in a row, is New Mexico.

These are the findings of the Education State Rankings, a survey by Morgan Quitno Press of hundreds of public school systems in all 50 states. States were graded on a variety of factors based on how they compare to the national average. These included such positive attributes as per-pupil expenditures, public high school graduation rates, average class size, student reading and math proficiency, and pupil-teacher ratios. States received negative points for high drop-out rates and physical violence.

How does YOUR state rank?
1 Massachusetts
2 Connecticut
3 Vermont
4 New Jersey
5 Wisconsin
6 New York
7 Minnesota
8 Iowa
9 Pennsylvania
10 Montana

11 Maine
12 Virginia
13 Nebraska
14 New Hampshire
15 Kansas
16 Wyoming
17 Indiana
18 Maryland
19 North Dakota
20 Ohio

21 Colorado
22 South Dakota
23 Rhode Island
24 Illinois
25 North Carolina
26 Missouri
27 Delaware
28 Utah
29 Idaho
30 Washington

31 Michigan
32 South Carolina
33 Texas and West Virginia (tie)
35 Oregon
36 Arkansas
37 Kentucky
38 Georgia
39 Florida
40 Oklahoma

41 Tennessee
42 Hawaii
43 California
44 Alabama
45 Alaska
46 Louisiana
47 Mississippi
48 Arizona
49 Nevada
50 New Mexico

I started out pretty well, I suppose, being born in the smartest state. It was all down hill from there, but which other way would there be to go? My states of residence in order with their ranking: Massachusetts (1), Illinois (24), New Jersey (4), Colorado (21), Texas (33), California (43), Connecticut (2), and Michigan (31). Looks like there is a fair mix of educated and uneducated states. If I average them all out, I end up with a 20 ranking. My average was a bit above average. I suppose if I was going to do this correctly I'd have to go back to the years I lived each place and see what their ranking was during my residence. Maybe they'd each be a bit higher up because *I* was residing there!