Data / Rankings / Pupil to teacher ratio, public schools / US states

US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools

Utah had the highest pupil to teacher ratio, public schools of 51 states in 2000, at 21.9 pupils per teacher. Vermont had the lowest, at 12.1 pupils per teacher. The median was 15.2 pupils per teacher and the figure for the United States was 16 pupils per teacher. Source: National Center for Education Statistics.

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Highest21.9Utah
Lowest12.1Vermont
Median15.251 states
United States16History

Map of states, 2000

Alabama: 15.4 pupils per teacherAlaska: 16.9 pupils per teacherArizona: 19.8 pupils per teacherArkansas: 14.1 pupils per teacherCalifornia: 20.6 pupils per teacherColorado: 17.3 pupils per teacherConnecticut: 13.7 pupils per teacherDelaware: 15.4 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia: 13.9 pupils per teacherFlorida: 18.4 pupils per teacherGeorgia: 15.9 pupils per teacherHawaii: 16.9 pupils per teacherIdaho: 17.9 pupils per teacherIllinois: 16.1 pupils per teacherIndiana: 16.7 pupils per teacherIowa: 14.3 pupils per teacherKansas: 14.4 pupils per teacherKentucky: 16.8 pupils per teacherLouisiana: 14.9 pupils per teacherMaine: 12.5 pupils per teacherMaryland: 16.3 pupils per teacherMassachusetts: 14.5 pupils per teacherMichigan: 17.7 pupils per teacherMinnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMississippi: 16.1 pupils per teacherMissouri: 14.1 pupils per teacherMontana: 14.9 pupils per teacherNebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNevada: 18.6 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire: 14.5 pupils per teacherNew Jersey: 13.3 pupils per teacherNew Mexico: 15.2 pupils per teacherNew York: 13.9 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina: 15.5 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota: 13.4 pupils per teacherOhio: 15.5 pupils per teacherOklahoma: 15.1 pupils per teacherOregon: 19.4 pupils per teacherPennsylvania: 15.5 pupils per teacherRhode Island: 14.8 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina: 14.9 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota: 13.7 pupils per teacherTennessee: 15.9 pupils per teacherTexas: 14.8 pupils per teacherUtah: 21.9 pupils per teacherVermont: 12.1 pupils per teacherVirginia: 13.2 pupils per teacherWashington: 19.7 pupils per teacherWest Virginia: 13.7 pupils per teacherWisconsin: 14.6 pupils per teacherWyoming: 13.3 pupils per teacher
  • Under 14
  • 14 to 15
  • 15 to 16
  • 16 to 18
  • 18 and over
pupils per teacher, 2000. Source: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2000

Utah: 21.9 pupils per teacherUtah21.9California: 20.6 pupils per teacherCalifornia20.6Arizona: 19.8 pupils per teacherArizona19.8Washington: 19.7 pupils per teacherWashington19.7Oregon: 19.4 pupils per teacherOregon19.4Nevada: 18.6 pupils per teacherNevada18.6Florida: 18.4 pupils per teacherFlorida18.4Idaho: 17.9 pupils per teacherIdaho17.9Michigan: 17.7 pupils per teacherMichigan17.7Colorado: 17.3 pupils per teacherColorado17.3Alaska: 16.9 pupils per teacherAlaska16.9Hawaii: 16.9 pupils per teacherHawaii16.9Kentucky: 16.8 pupils per teacherKentucky16.8Indiana: 16.7 pupils per teacherIndiana16.7Maryland: 16.3 pupils per teacherMaryland16.3Mississippi: 16.1 pupils per teacherMississippi16.1Illinois: 16.1 pupils per teacherIllinois16.1Minnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMinnesota16Tennessee: 15.9 pupils per teacherTennessee15.9Georgia: 15.9 pupils per teacherGeorgia15.9Pennsylvania: 15.5 pupils per teacherPennsylvania15.5Ohio: 15.5 pupils per teacherOhio15.5North Carolina: 15.5 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina15.5Alabama: 15.4 pupils per teacherAlabama15.4Delaware: 15.4 pupils per teacherDelaware15.4New Mexico: 15.2 pupils per teacherNew Mexico15.2Oklahoma: 15.1 pupils per teacherOklahoma15.1South Carolina: 14.9 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina14.9Louisiana: 14.9 pupils per teacherLouisiana14.9Montana: 14.9 pupils per teacherMontana14.9Rhode Island: 14.8 pupils per teacherRhode Island14.8Texas: 14.8 pupils per teacherTexas14.8Wisconsin: 14.6 pupils per teacherWisconsin14.6New Hampshire: 14.5 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire14.5Massachusetts: 14.5 pupils per teacherMassachusetts14.5Kansas: 14.4 pupils per teacherKansas14.4Iowa: 14.3 pupils per teacherIowa14.3Missouri: 14.1 pupils per teacherMissouri14.1Arkansas: 14.1 pupils per teacherArkansas14.1New York: 13.9 pupils per teacherNew York13.9District of Columbia: 13.9 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia13.9Connecticut: 13.7 pupils per teacherConnecticut13.7South Dakota: 13.7 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota13.7West Virginia: 13.7 pupils per teacherWest Virginia13.7Nebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNebraska13.6North Dakota: 13.4 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota13.4Wyoming: 13.3 pupils per teacherWyoming13.3New Jersey: 13.3 pupils per teacherNew Jersey13.3Virginia: 13.2 pupils per teacherVirginia13.2Maine: 12.5 pupils per teacherMaine12.5Vermont: 12.1 pupils per teacherVermont12.1Utah: 21.9 pupils per teacherUtah21.9California: 20.6 pupils per teacherCalifornia20.6Arizona: 19.8 pupils per teacherArizona19.8Washington: 19.7 pupils per teacherWashington19.7Oregon: 19.4 pupils per teacherOregon19.4Nevada: 18.6 pupils per teacherNevada18.6Florida: 18.4 pupils per teacherFlorida18.4Idaho: 17.9 pupils per teacherIdaho17.9Michigan: 17.7 pupils per teacherMichigan17.7Colorado: 17.3 pupils per teacherColorado17.3Alaska: 16.9 pupils per teacherAlaska16.9Hawaii: 16.9 pupils per teacherHawaii16.9Kentucky: 16.8 pupils per teacherKentucky16.8Indiana: 16.7 pupils per teacherIndiana16.7Maryland: 16.3 pupils per teacherMaryland16.3Mississippi: 16.1 pupils per teacherMississippi16.1Illinois: 16.1 pupils per teacherIllinois16.1Minnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMinnesota16Tennessee: 15.9 pupils per teacherTennessee15.9Georgia: 15.9 pupils per teacherGeorgia15.9Pennsylvania: 15.5 pupils per teacherPennsylvania15.5Ohio: 15.5 pupils per teacherOhio15.5North Carolina: 15.5 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina15.5Alabama: 15.4 pupils per teacherAlabama15.4Delaware: 15.4 pupils per teacherDelaware15.4New Mexico: 15.2 pupils per teacherNew Mexico15.2Oklahoma: 15.1 pupils per teacherOklahoma15.1South Carolina: 14.9 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina14.9Louisiana: 14.9 pupils per teacherLouisiana14.9Montana: 14.9 pupils per teacherMontana14.9Rhode Island: 14.8 pupils per teacherRhode Island14.8Texas: 14.8 pupils per teacherTexas14.8Wisconsin: 14.6 pupils per teacherWisconsin14.6New Hampshire: 14.5 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire14.5Massachusetts: 14.5 pupils per teacherMassachusetts14.5Kansas: 14.4 pupils per teacherKansas14.4Iowa: 14.3 pupils per teacherIowa14.3Missouri: 14.1 pupils per teacherMissouri14.1Arkansas: 14.1 pupils per teacherArkansas14.1New York: 13.9 pupils per teacherNew York13.9District of Columbia: 13.9 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia13.9Connecticut: 13.7 pupils per teacherConnecticut13.7South Dakota: 13.7 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota13.7West Virginia: 13.7 pupils per teacherWest Virginia13.7Nebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNebraska13.6North Dakota: 13.4 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota13.4Wyoming: 13.3 pupils per teacherWyoming13.3New Jersey: 13.3 pupils per teacherNew Jersey13.3Virginia: 13.2 pupils per teacherVirginia13.2Maine: 12.5 pupils per teacherMaine12.5Vermont: 12.1 pupils per teacherVermont12.1
pupils per teacher. Source: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2000
pupils per teacher
1Utah21.9
2California20.6
3Arizona19.8
4Washington19.7
5Oregon19.4
6Nevada18.6
7Florida18.4
8Idaho17.9
9Michigan17.7
10Colorado17.3
11Alaska16.9
12Hawaii16.9
13Kentucky16.8
14Indiana16.7
15Maryland16.3
16Mississippi16.1
17Illinois16.1
18Minnesota16
19Tennessee15.9
20Georgia15.9
21Pennsylvania15.5
22Ohio15.5
23North Carolina15.5
24Alabama15.4
25Delaware15.4
26New Mexico15.2
27Oklahoma15.1
28South Carolina14.9
29Louisiana14.9
30Montana14.9
31Rhode Island14.8
32Texas14.8
33Wisconsin14.6
34New Hampshire14.5
35Massachusetts14.5
36Kansas14.4
37Iowa14.3
38Missouri14.1
39Arkansas14.1
40New York13.9
41District of Columbia13.9
42Connecticut13.7
43South Dakota13.7
44West Virginia13.7
45Nebraska13.6
46North Dakota13.4
47Wyoming13.3
48New Jersey13.3
49Virginia13.2
50Maine12.5
51Vermont12.1

Other periods

About this ranking

Students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in the fall divided by the full-time-equivalent number of public school teachers, from the NCES Digest of Education Statistics (Common Core of Data). The year is the fall of the school year (2022 means fall 2022, the 2022-23 school year).

This is not class size: teachers include those who do not lead a regular class, such as special education and specialist teachers. NCES publishes it for selected years only (2000, 2012 and 2017 onwards).

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state (US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp

MLA 9

Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state, US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000. National Center for Education Statistics, 9 May 2024, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

National Center for Education Statistics. 2024. Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000.

Harvard

National Center for Education Statistics (2024) Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state, US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000 [Dataset]. Available at: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{national_us_states_by_pupil_2000,
  author = {{National Center for Education Statistics}},
  title = {{Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state: US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000. Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23\_208.40.asp. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - National Center for Education Statistics
TI  - Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state: US states by pupil to teacher ratio, public schools, 2000
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/05/09
PB  - National Center for Education Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2000.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_208.40.asp. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest pupil to teacher ratio, public schools?

Utah, with 21.9 pupils per teacher in 2000, according to National Center for Education Statistics.

Which state has the lowest pupil to teacher ratio, public schools?

Vermont, with 12.1 pupils per teacher in 2000.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, table 208.40: public elementary and secondary pupil/teacher ratios by state. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

US states: more rankings