Massachusetts posted the highest average score in the country on all four 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests: fourth-grade math, eighth-grade math, fourth-grade reading, and eighth-grade reading. NAEP, also called the Nation's Report Card, gives the same exam to samples of students in every state. The Urban Institute calls it the only nationally comparable measure of student achievement reported for every state on a regular basis.
Averaged across the four tests, Massachusetts public school students scored 10.6 points above the national public school average. New Mexico finished last on every test and averaged 13.7 points below. Mississippi, where more than 20% of children live in poverty according to the Urban Institute, ranked 29th of 51 and landed almost exactly on the national average. Using the same method on 2019 scores, it ranked 39th.
The 2024 results, released January 29, 2025, are still the newest state-level NAEP scores. Students took the 2026 reading and math tests earlier this year, but those results have not been published yet.
How the state ranking works
For each test, a state's average score is compared with the national average for public school students. Massachusetts beat that average by 9.2 points in fourth-grade math, 11.2 points in eighth-grade math, 10.5 points in fourth-grade reading, and 11.3 points in eighth-grade reading. Those four gaps total 42.3 points before rounding, and 42.3 divided by 4 is about 10.6. States are ranked on that average gap.
A second method, ranking each state 1 to 51 on every test and averaging those places, produces the same top five and the same bottom five. The 2024 national public averages were 237 in fourth-grade math, 272 in eighth-grade math, 214 in fourth-grade reading, and 257 in eighth-grade reading.
| Rank | State | Grade 4 math | Grade 8 math | Grade 4 reading | Grade 8 reading | Avg. gap vs. U.S. | 2019 rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 246 | 283 | 225 | 268 | +10.6 | 1 |
| 2 | New Jersey | 240 | 282 | 222 | 266 | +7.2 | 2 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 242 | 280 | 221 | 264 | +6.6 | 4 |
| 4 | Utah | 242 | 282 | 219 | 261 | +5.8 | 7 |
| 5 | Wyoming | 243 | 278 | 222 | 260 | +5.8 | 5 |
| 6 | Colorado | 239 | 278 | 221 | 265 | +5.6 | 9 |
| 7 | Indiana | 240 | 278 | 220 | 262 | +5.0 | 10 |
| 8 | Connecticut | 239 | 277 | 219 | 263 | +4.4 | 6 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 239 | 283 | 215 | 260 | +4.2 | 11 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 241 | 282 | 214 | 260 | +4.2 | 3 |
| 11 | Montana | 238 | 279 | 217 | 261 | +3.7 | 20 |
| 12 | South Dakota | 240 | 281 | 214 | 260 | +3.6 | 17 |
| 13 | Ohio | 239 | 279 | 216 | 260 | +3.5 | 14 |
| 14 | North Dakota | 241 | 280 | 216 | 257 | +3.4 | 18 |
| 15 | Idaho | 238 | 278 | 216 | 261 | +3.1 | 12 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 240 | 276 | 215 | 259 | +2.3 | 29 |
| 17 | Illinois | 236 | 277 | 214 | 262 | +2.2 | 27 |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | 238 | 276 | 216 | 259 | +2.2 | 13 |
| 19 | Iowa | 237 | 275 | 215 | 261 | +1.7 | 24 |
| 20 | Washington | 238 | 274 | 216 | 259 | +1.4 | 21 |
| 21 | Nebraska | 238 | 280 | 212 | 256 | +1.4 | 16 |
| 22 | Kentucky | 238 | 271 | 218 | 258 | +1.0 | 28 |
| 23 | Virginia | 238 | 275 | 214 | 256 | +0.7 | 8 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 239 | 276 | 213 | 255 | +0.6 | 23 |
| 25 | Hawaii | 239 | 270 | 216 | 257 | +0.5 | 40 |
| 26 | Florida | 243 | 267 | 218 | 253 | +0.3 | 19 |
| 27 | Rhode Island | 237 | 270 | 216 | 258 | +0.2 | 33 |
| 28 | Vermont | 235 | 276 | 213 | 257 | 0.0 | 15 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 239 | 269 | 219 | 253 | -0.1 | 39 |
| 30 | Kansas | 237 | 274 | 213 | 255 | -0.1 | 25 |
| 31 | Georgia | 236 | 269 | 214 | 259 | -0.5 | 32 |
| 32 | New York | 234 | 271 | 215 | 257 | -1.0 | 31 |
| 33 | Maryland | 234 | 268 | 216 | 258 | -1.1 | 26 |
| 34 | South Carolina | 238 | 268 | 215 | 254 | -1.6 | 42 |
| 35 | Texas | 241 | 269 | 212 | 252 | -1.6 | 36 |
| 36 | Louisiana | 235 | 267 | 216 | 257 | -1.7 | 47 |
| 37 | Missouri | 235 | 270 | 212 | 255 | -2.0 | 30 |
| 38 | Maine | 233 | 273 | 210 | 255 | -2.5 | 22 |
| 39 | Michigan | 235 | 270 | 209 | 255 | -2.8 | 35 |
| 40 | California | 233 | 269 | 212 | 254 | -3.1 | 43 |
| 41 | Nevada | 233 | 265 | 213 | 253 | -3.9 | 44 |
| 42 | Arizona | 232 | 270 | 208 | 254 | -4.0 | 38 |
| 43 | Arkansas | 230 | 266 | 210 | 255 | -4.9 | 45 |
| 44 | Alabama | 236 | 262 | 213 | 250 | -4.9 | 49 |
| 45 | Oregon | 229 | 268 | 207 | 255 | -5.5 | 34 |
| 46 | Delaware | 233 | 263 | 210 | 249 | -6.3 | 37 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | 233 | 264 | 207 | 249 | -6.9 | 41 |
| 48 | District of Columbia | 231 | 262 | 209 | 251 | -7.0 | 48 |
| 49 | West Virginia | 232 | 261 | 206 | 247 | -8.7 | 46 |
| 50 | Alaska | 226 | 264 | 202 | 246 | -10.7 | 50 |
| 51 | New Mexico | 224 | 256 | 201 | 245 | -13.7 | 51 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2024 and 2019 average scale scores for public school students, from the NAEP Data Service. Scores are rounded. "Avg. gap vs. U.S." is the average of a state's four differences from the national public school average, in scale points, calculated by allk12 from unrounded scores. The 2019 rank uses the same method on 2019 scores. These are not official NAEP rankings.
Close ranks should be read as ties. NAEP tests samples of students, so every score has a margin of error, and NCES reports a difference only when it passes a test of statistical significance. The agency notes that a state can have "a numerically higher average scale score than the nation or another state" without that difference being statistically significant. In 2024 fourth-grade math and fourth-grade reading, 30 of the 51 jurisdictions (the 50 states plus the District of Columbia) were statistically even with the national public average, according to NAEP's own significance tests. Even at the top, Massachusetts's 283 in eighth-grade math was statistically tied with nine states, including New Jersey, Minnesota, and Utah.
Mississippi's spot comes mostly from its fourth graders. Their reading average of 219 ranked 9th and was significantly above the national public average. Their math average of 239 was statistically even with the nation and significantly higher than the averages in Maryland, New York, and California. Mississippi's eighth graders ranked 35th in math and 41st in reading, and both scores were significantly below the national average. Florida shows a similar split, ranking 2nd in fourth-grade math and 41st in eighth-grade math.
Most scores fell after 2019. In eighth-grade math, 50 of 51 jurisdictions scored significantly lower than in 2019, and Tennessee was the only one whose drop was too small to be statistically significant. Two states rose on single tests. Louisiana was the only state with a fourth-grade reading score significantly higher than in 2019, going from 210 to 216. Alabama was the only state with a significantly higher fourth-grade math score, going from 230 to 236. On the combined ranking, Louisiana climbed from 47th in 2019 to 36th, Alabama from 49th to 44th, and Tennessee from 29th to 16th.
Adjusting for who takes the test
Raw averages partly reflect who lives in a state. The Urban Institute notes that more than 20% of children live in poverty in Alabama and Mississippi, compared with less than 10% in New Hampshire and Vermont. For nearly 10 years, Urban has published adjusted scores that compare each state's students with students nationwide who share the same gender, age, race or ethnicity, free and reduced-price lunch status, special education status, and English learner status. The 2024 version, by Matthew Chingos and Kristin Blagg, came out the day the scores did and applies Urban's student-level analysis of 2022 data to the 2024 state results.
The adjustment reshuffles the top. Averaging Urban's four adjusted 2024 scores puts Mississippi first: (248.6 + 228.5 + 281.3 + 263.2) divided by 4 is 255.4. Louisiana, Massachusetts, Texas, and Indiana follow. Mississippi had the highest adjusted score on three of the four tests, and Massachusetts kept first place in eighth-grade reading. New Hampshire, third on raw scores, falls to 28th of the 50 states Urban adjusted.
Urban lists limits, including "challenges with accurately measuring income across different states."
Media rankings measure other things. U.S. News & World Report's 2026 Best States list, released July 28, 2026, named Colorado No. 1 in education and New Jersey No. 2, according to NJBIZ, which reported that New Jersey ranked No. 1 in the pre-K-12 subcategory. NJBIZ said Colorado's climb came from gains in associate's degree completion and attainment, which are college measures. On NAEP alone, New Jersey ranks 2nd and Colorado 6th.
NAEP reports results for states, not schools. Each state's own test covers every school, but those tests differ in content and in how hard it is to be rated proficient, so a proficiency rate in Mississippi can't be lined up against one in Massachusetts. allk12's best schools rankings work inside each state, using a BeatsExpectations score that compares a school's state test results with what its share of low-income students would predict, a school-level version of the idea behind Urban's adjustment. State pages such as Mississippi and Massachusetts cover every public school, and the poverty and test score report shows how closely the two track in each state. For a school-level media list, see the U.S. News best high schools for 2026-27.
The next state comparison will come from the 2026 NAEP. NCES expected about 600,000 students to take those tests, and the agency says the reading and math results are scheduled for release in early 2027.
Sources
NCES: NAEP Data Explorer and Data Service, 2019 and 2024 state average scores and significance tests
The Nation's Report Card: 2024 Mathematics, grades 4 and 8
The Nation's Report Card: 2024 Reading, grades 4 and 8
NCES: NAEP guide to statistical significance
NCES: What's on the horizon for the 2026 Nation's Report Card
National Assessment Governing Board: NAEP assessment schedule
Urban Institute: States' demographically adjusted performance on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress
Urban Institute: 2024 demographically adjusted NAEP scores (data table)
NJBIZ: Here's where New Jersey ranks on U.S. News' Best States list
Combined state rankings calculated by allk12 from NCES NAEP 2024 and 2019 average scores for public school students.
