When it comes to overall quality and safety, Massachusetts boasts the nation’s best school systems.
WalletHub’s 2025 report reveals where each state ranks based on the quality of its school systems. For the second year in a row, Massachusetts and Connecticut earned the top two spots in the ranking.
Massachusetts is home to some of the highest-performing students in the country, the research suggests. It has the highest share of students who received a score of three or higher on an AP exam.
Additionally, its schools are deemed very safe. It has the fifth-lowest share of students who report being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, the third-lowest share who have been in a physical fight at school and the fourth-lowest share who report illegal drugs being available to them on school property.
Now, let’s take a look at the top 10 states with the best school systems in the country:
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- New Jersey
- Virginia
- New Hampshire
- Wisconsin
- Rhode Island
- Indiana
- Maryland
- New York
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Methodology
To determine the best and worst states for public education, WalletHub compared each state across two dimensions: quality and safety.
The researchers evaluated those dimensions using 32 relevant metrics, each graded on a 100-point scale. Each state’s weighted average was determined across all metrics to calculate its overall score.
Click here to dig deeper into the research methodology and see where your state ranks on the list, or use the interactive map below:
