This State Is America's Smartest

Schools have taken a big hit during the pandemic, with continual disruptions to in-person learning in elementary and secondary schools and colleges across the nation. Still, as WalletHub notes, "amid these struggles, some states are able to provide safe, quality education more than others." To find out which ones, the site analyzed 18 metrics in two main categories: educational attainment, which looked at the share of adults ages 25 and older who've graduated from high school, attended some college, or earned a university or professional degree; and quality of education (ie, the quality of local schools and colleges, high school graduation rates, and racial and gender gaps in educational attainment). Massachusetts comes out on top of WalletHub's list, while West Virginia is at the bottom. See where other states ranked:

Most Educated

1. Massachusetts (No. 1 in "Educational Attainment" category)
2. Maryland (No. 1 in "Quality of Education" category)
3. Connecticut
4. Colorado
5. Vermont
6. New Jersey
7. Virginia
8. New Hampshire
9. Minnesota
10. Washington

Least Educated

41. Tennessee
42. New Mexico
43. Nevada
44. Oklahoma
45. Kentucky
46. Alabama
47. Arkansas
48. Louisiana
49. Mississippi
50. West Virginia (last in "Educational Attainment" category)

See other states fared here. (Check out the 10 states that people are fleeing.)