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 2020, at 22.5 pupils per teacher. Vermont had the lowest, at 10.3 pupils per teacher. The median was 14.3 pupils per teacher and the figure for the United States was 15.4 pupils per teacher. Source: National Center for Education Statistics.

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Highest22.5Utah
Lowest10.3Vermont
Median14.351 states
United States15.4History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 17.4 pupils per teacherAlaska: 17.2 pupils per teacherArizona: 22.4 pupils per teacherArkansas: 12.6 pupils per teacherCalifornia: 22.5 pupils per teacherColorado: 16.3 pupils per teacherConnecticut: 12 pupils per teacherDelaware: 14 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia: 11.7 pupils per teacherFlorida: 17.3 pupils per teacherGeorgia: 14.7 pupils per teacherHawaii: 14.5 pupils per teacherIdaho: 17.5 pupils per teacherIllinois: 14.2 pupils per teacherIndiana: 15.7 pupils per teacherIowa: 14.1 pupils per teacherKansas: 12.7 pupils per teacherKentucky: 15.5 pupils per teacherLouisiana: 18.1 pupils per teacherMaine: 11.4 pupils per teacherMaryland: 14.2 pupils per teacherMassachusetts: 12.3 pupils per teacherMichigan: 17 pupils per teacherMinnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMississippi: 14.1 pupils per teacherMissouri: 12.8 pupils per teacherMontana: 13.4 pupils per teacherNebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNevada: 20.3 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire: 11.4 pupils per teacherNew Jersey: 11.8 pupils per teacherNew Mexico: 14.7 pupils per teacherNew York: 12.2 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina: 15 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota: 12.1 pupils per teacherOhio: 16.3 pupils per teacherOklahoma: 16.1 pupils per teacherOregon: 18.8 pupils per teacherPennsylvania: 13.6 pupils per teacherRhode Island: 13 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina: 14.3 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota: 13.9 pupils per teacherTennessee: 15.2 pupils per teacherTexas: 14.5 pupils per teacherUtah: 22.5 pupils per teacherVermont: 10.3 pupils per teacherVirginia: 14.4 pupils per teacherWashington: 17.6 pupils per teacherWest Virginia: 13.6 pupils per teacherWisconsin: 13.8 pupils per teacherWyoming: 12.3 pupils per teacher
  • Under 12
  • 12 to 14
  • 14 to 16
  • 16 to 17
  • 17 and over
pupils per teacher, 2020. 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, 2020

Utah: 22.5 pupils per teacherUtah22.5California: 22.5 pupils per teacherCalifornia22.5Arizona: 22.4 pupils per teacherArizona22.4Nevada: 20.3 pupils per teacherNevada20.3Oregon: 18.8 pupils per teacherOregon18.8Louisiana: 18.1 pupils per teacherLouisiana18.1Washington: 17.6 pupils per teacherWashington17.6Idaho: 17.5 pupils per teacherIdaho17.5Alabama: 17.4 pupils per teacherAlabama17.4Florida: 17.3 pupils per teacherFlorida17.3Alaska: 17.2 pupils per teacherAlaska17.2Michigan: 17 pupils per teacherMichigan17Ohio: 16.3 pupils per teacherOhio16.3Colorado: 16.3 pupils per teacherColorado16.3Oklahoma: 16.1 pupils per teacherOklahoma16.1Minnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMinnesota16Indiana: 15.7 pupils per teacherIndiana15.7Kentucky: 15.5 pupils per teacherKentucky15.5Tennessee: 15.2 pupils per teacherTennessee15.2North Carolina: 15 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina15New Mexico: 14.7 pupils per teacherNew Mexico14.7Georgia: 14.7 pupils per teacherGeorgia14.7Hawaii: 14.5 pupils per teacherHawaii14.5Texas: 14.5 pupils per teacherTexas14.5Virginia: 14.4 pupils per teacherVirginia14.4South Carolina: 14.3 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina14.3Illinois: 14.2 pupils per teacherIllinois14.2Maryland: 14.2 pupils per teacherMaryland14.2Mississippi: 14.1 pupils per teacherMississippi14.1Iowa: 14.1 pupils per teacherIowa14.1Delaware: 14 pupils per teacherDelaware14South Dakota: 13.9 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota13.9Wisconsin: 13.8 pupils per teacherWisconsin13.8Pennsylvania: 13.6 pupils per teacherPennsylvania13.6West Virginia: 13.6 pupils per teacherWest Virginia13.6Nebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNebraska13.6Montana: 13.4 pupils per teacherMontana13.4Rhode Island: 13 pupils per teacherRhode Island13Missouri: 12.8 pupils per teacherMissouri12.8Kansas: 12.7 pupils per teacherKansas12.7Arkansas: 12.6 pupils per teacherArkansas12.6Wyoming: 12.3 pupils per teacherWyoming12.3Massachusetts: 12.3 pupils per teacherMassachusetts12.3New York: 12.2 pupils per teacherNew York12.2North Dakota: 12.1 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota12.1Connecticut: 12 pupils per teacherConnecticut12New Jersey: 11.8 pupils per teacherNew Jersey11.8District of Columbia: 11.7 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia11.7New Hampshire: 11.4 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire11.4Maine: 11.4 pupils per teacherMaine11.4Vermont: 10.3 pupils per teacherVermont10.3Utah: 22.5 pupils per teacherUtah22.5California: 22.5 pupils per teacherCalifornia22.5Arizona: 22.4 pupils per teacherArizona22.4Nevada: 20.3 pupils per teacherNevada20.3Oregon: 18.8 pupils per teacherOregon18.8Louisiana: 18.1 pupils per teacherLouisiana18.1Washington: 17.6 pupils per teacherWashington17.6Idaho: 17.5 pupils per teacherIdaho17.5Alabama: 17.4 pupils per teacherAlabama17.4Florida: 17.3 pupils per teacherFlorida17.3Alaska: 17.2 pupils per teacherAlaska17.2Michigan: 17 pupils per teacherMichigan17Ohio: 16.3 pupils per teacherOhio16.3Colorado: 16.3 pupils per teacherColorado16.3Oklahoma: 16.1 pupils per teacherOklahoma16.1Minnesota: 16 pupils per teacherMinnesota16Indiana: 15.7 pupils per teacherIndiana15.7Kentucky: 15.5 pupils per teacherKentucky15.5Tennessee: 15.2 pupils per teacherTennessee15.2North Carolina: 15 pupils per teacherNorth Carolina15New Mexico: 14.7 pupils per teacherNew Mexico14.7Georgia: 14.7 pupils per teacherGeorgia14.7Hawaii: 14.5 pupils per teacherHawaii14.5Texas: 14.5 pupils per teacherTexas14.5Virginia: 14.4 pupils per teacherVirginia14.4South Carolina: 14.3 pupils per teacherSouth Carolina14.3Illinois: 14.2 pupils per teacherIllinois14.2Maryland: 14.2 pupils per teacherMaryland14.2Mississippi: 14.1 pupils per teacherMississippi14.1Iowa: 14.1 pupils per teacherIowa14.1Delaware: 14 pupils per teacherDelaware14South Dakota: 13.9 pupils per teacherSouth Dakota13.9Wisconsin: 13.8 pupils per teacherWisconsin13.8Pennsylvania: 13.6 pupils per teacherPennsylvania13.6West Virginia: 13.6 pupils per teacherWest Virginia13.6Nebraska: 13.6 pupils per teacherNebraska13.6Montana: 13.4 pupils per teacherMontana13.4Rhode Island: 13 pupils per teacherRhode Island13Missouri: 12.8 pupils per teacherMissouri12.8Kansas: 12.7 pupils per teacherKansas12.7Arkansas: 12.6 pupils per teacherArkansas12.6Wyoming: 12.3 pupils per teacherWyoming12.3Massachusetts: 12.3 pupils per teacherMassachusetts12.3New York: 12.2 pupils per teacherNew York12.2North Dakota: 12.1 pupils per teacherNorth Dakota12.1Connecticut: 12 pupils per teacherConnecticut12New Jersey: 11.8 pupils per teacherNew Jersey11.8District of Columbia: 11.7 pupils per teacherDistrict of Columbia11.7New Hampshire: 11.4 pupils per teacherNew Hampshire11.4Maine: 11.4 pupils per teacherMaine11.4Vermont: 10.3 pupils per teacherVermont10.3
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

RankStates2020
pupils per teacher		Change on 2019
1Utah22.5-0.7%
2California22.5-2.2%
3Arizona22.4-4.8%
4Nevada20.3+4.3%
5Oregon18.8-6.9%
6Louisiana18.1-1.9%
7Washington17.6-4.2%
8Idaho17.5-3.2%
9Alabama17.4-2%
10Florida17.3+0.4%
11Alaska17.2-2.6%
12Michigan17-3.5%
13Ohio16.3+2%
14Colorado16.3-4%
15Oklahoma16.1-0.9%
16Minnesota16-0.4%
17Indiana15.7-7.7%
18Kentucky15.5-5.3%
19Tennessee15.2-2.7%
20North Carolina15-3.3%
21New Mexico14.7-3.1%
22Georgia14.7-2.4%
23Hawaii14.5-2%
24Texas14.5-3.9%
25Virginia14.4-3.4%
26South Carolina14.3-2.8%
27Illinois14.2-3.1%
28Maryland14.2-4.2%
29Mississippi14.1-4.7%
30Iowa14.1-2.9%
31Delaware14-2.3%
32South Dakota13.9-1.2%
33Wisconsin13.8-3.4%
34Pennsylvania13.6-2.2%
35West Virginia13.6-2.5%
36Nebraska13.6-1.3%
37Montana13.4-4.8%
38Rhode Island13-2.7%
39Missouri12.8-2.8%
40Kansas12.7-6.8%
41Arkansas12.6-1.9%
42Wyoming12.3-3.7%
43Massachusetts12.3-3.9%
44New York12.2-1.4%
45North Dakota12.1-3%
46Connecticut12-3.2%
47New Jersey11.8-2.2%
48District of Columbia11.7-3.5%
49New Hampshire11.4-5.4%
50Maine11.4-6.3%
51Vermont10.3-4.4%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{national_us_states_by_pupil_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/pupil-teacher-ratio-public-schools/us-states?period=2020.
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 22.5 pupils per teacher in 2020, according to National Center for Education Statistics.

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

Vermont, with 10.3 pupils per teacher in 2020.

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