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Education · North America · High income
United States: education in numbers
Pre-primary enrolment is 72.4% (2020), 89th of 176 in the world and 1st of 2 in North America. Primary enrolment is 97.0% (2022), 128th of 191 in the world and 1st of 3 in North America. Primary completion is 95.7% (2022), 77th of 168 in the world and 1st of 1 in North America.
Pre-primary enrolment
United StatesNorth AmericaHigh incomeWorld
Primary enrolment
United StatesNorth AmericaHigh incomeWorld
10 indicators
Education: United States in detail
Latest reported value, world rank and rank within North America; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.
| Indicator | Latest | World rank | In region | ~2000 | ~2010 | ~2020 | 10-year change | Region | Income group | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolmentPre-primary enrolment, % gross | 72.4%2020 | 89/176 | 1/2 | · | · | 72.4% | +1.9 ppsince 2005 | 70.3% | 83.8% | 60.9% | |
| Primary enrolmentPrimary school enrolment, % gross | 97.0%2022 | 128/191 | 1/3 | 102.1%1999 | · | 100.3% | −4.9 ppsince 2005 | 96.8% | 99.8% | 102.2% | |
| Primary completionPrimary completion rate, % of age group | 95.7%2022 | 77/168 | 1/1 | · | · | 100.9% | — | 96.0% | 97.8% | 88.0% | |
| Secondary enrolmentSecondary school enrolment, % gross | 97.5%2022 | 72/176 | 2/3 | 94.3%1999 | · | 100.5% | +2.4 ppsince 2005 | 98.1% | 103.2% | 77.3% | |
| Lower secondary completionLower secondary completion rate, % of age group | 101.4%2022 | 18/168 | 1/1 | · | · | 103.8% | — | 100.8% | 95.6% | 77.9% | |
| Tertiary enrolmentTertiary enrolment, % gross | 79.4%2022 | 31/172 | 1/3 | 71.4%1999 | · | 87.6% | −1.3 ppsince 2005 | 79.0% | 82.0% | 43.6% | |
| Out-of-school childrenChildren out of school, % of primary school age | 4.0%2022 | 85/178 | 2/2 | · | · | 2.0% | +3.4 ppsince 2005 | — | 2.5% | — | |
| Pupils per teacherPupils per teacher, primary | 14.22017 | 119/173 | 1/2 | · | · | · | — | 14.4 | 14.0 | 23.4 | |
| Education spendingPublic spending on education, % of GDP | 5.4%2021 | 41/184 | 1/3 | · | · | 5.4% | — | 4.8% | 4.7% | 3.6% | |
| Education, % of budgetEducation spending, % of government expenditure | 11.3%2021 | 120/179 | 1/2 | · | · | 12.2% | — | 10.7% | 12.0% | 14.0% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.
Better than ten years ago
- Pre-primary enrolment+1.9 pp72.4% in 2020
- Secondary enrolment+2.4 pp97.5% in 2022
Worse than ten years ago
- Tertiary enrolment−1.3 pp79.4% in 2022
- Out-of-school children+3.4 pp4.0% in 2022
Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).
neighbours
United States and its neighbours
Countries sharing a land border with United States. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.
| Indicator | United States | Mexico | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-primary enrolment | 72.4%2020 | 70.6%2020 | 48.9%2020 |
| Primary enrolment | 97.0%2022 | 102.3%2024 | 95.0%2023 |
| Primary completion | 95.7%2022 | 102.3%2024 | — |
| Secondary enrolment | 97.5%2022 | 103.1%2024 | 104.3%2023 |
| Lower secondary completion | 101.4%2022 | 86.6%2024 | — |
| Tertiary enrolment | 79.4%2022 | 48.2%2024 | 76.3%2023 |
| Out-of-school children | 4.0%2022 | 0.4%2024 | 5.0%2023 |
| Pupils per teacher | 14.22017 | 26.62017 | — |
| Education spending | 5.4%2021 | 4.1%2022 | 4.8%2022 |