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Unemployment rate, bachelor's or higher: U.S. states ranked (2025)

Measure: Unemployment rate, bachelor's or higher. All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Unemployment and labor force participation by education, by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2025.

Licence: Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated: 2026-10-30

Download full table CSV Source: U.S. Census Bureau (opens in a new tab)

National value: 2.7 (United States).

Small states, hard to see on the map:

DC 3 %
RI 1.9 %
DE 2.5 %
CT 3.1 %
NJ 2.9 %
MD 2.6 %
MA 3.3 %
VT 1.8 %
NH 1.7 %

Lowest: 1 to 1.6 %
Group 2: 1.6 to 2 %
Group 3: 2 to 2.3 %
Group 4: 2.3 to 2.8 %
Highest: 2.8 to 3.9 %

The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.


1	California	3.9
2	Washington	3.6
3	Massachusetts	3.3
3	New York	3.3
5	Nevada	3.2
6	Connecticut	3.1
7	District of Columbia	3
7	Oregon	3
7	Texas	3
10	New Jersey	2.9
11	Illinois	2.8
12	Colorado	2.6
12	Georgia	2.6
12	Maryland	2.6
15	Delaware	2.5
16	Arizona	2.4
16	Michigan	2.4
16	New Mexico	2.4
16	Virginia	2.4
20	Florida	2.3
20	Pennsylvania	2.3
20	Utah	2.3
23	Alabama	2.2
23	Kentucky	2.2
23	Mississippi	2.2
23	North Carolina	2.2
23	Oklahoma	2.2
23	South Carolina	2.2
29	Louisiana	2.1
29	Minnesota	2.1
31	West Virginia	2
32	Rhode Island	1.9
33	Ohio	1.8
33	South Dakota	1.8
33	Vermont	1.8
36	Indiana	1.7
36	Maine	1.7
36	Missouri	1.7
36	New Hampshire	1.7
40	Arkansas	1.6
40	Hawaii	1.6
40	Tennessee	1.6
43	Montana	1.5
44	Idaho	1.4
44	Iowa	1.4
44	Wisconsin	1.4
47	Alaska	1.3
48	Kansas	1.2
49	Nebraska	1.1
49	Wyoming	1.1
51	North Dakota	1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Table S2301: Employment Status. Reference period: 2025.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by unemployment rate, bachelor's or higher (2025). Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-year estimates, Table S2301; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-10-30. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-unemployment-rate-bachelors-or-higher/

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