Fact checked

Education comes at a high price, and some states invest more in their students than others. Find out which states spend the most (and least) on their students.

Mathematics

3 minutes

Fact checked

Education comes at a high price, and some states invest more in their students than others. Find out which states spend the most (and least) on their students.

Mathematics

3 minutes

Written by:

Updated on:

May 16, 2025

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At Learner, we believe education is one of the most important things we invest in throughout out lives. Most of us spend at least thirteen years in school, starting from age five, and some will even extend their educational period into their late twenties and beyond.

Investing in the future of our children via their education can help them build the lives they want. But education comes at a price—and a high one, at that. And some states invest more in their students than others. Find out which states have the highest spending per student in our map and table below!

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We analyzed various data sets surrounding education spending in each state from the U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics report provided by EducationData.org. The data sets we used to create this report are:

Public K-12 Spending Per Student

Public Education Spending by State

Public K-12 Spending as a Percentage of State Taxpayer Income

Public Education Funding by State

StateRankTotal Spend Per StudentK-12 Spend Per StudentPost- secondary Spend Per Student% Federal Funding for K-12% State & Local Funding for K-12% of Taxpayer Income for K-12 Spend
Alaska   1   $53,124   $18,313   $34,811   14.61%   85.39%   1.40%  
Michigan   2   $46,887   $13,072   $33,815   8.37%   91.63%   0.90%  
Hawaii   3   $46,363   $15,205   $31,158   8.27%   91.73%   0.80%  
New Mexico   4   $45,717   $9,987   $35,730   13.38%   86.62%   0.80%  
Oregon   5   $44,506   $11,340   $33,166   6.81%   93.19%   0.70%  
Vermont   6   $43,638   $21,314   $22,324   6.36%   93.64%   1.20%  
Washington   7   $43,543   $14,556   $28,987   6.20%   93.80%   1.00%  
Wyoming   8   $42,870   $16,698   $26,172   6.40%   93.60%   1.20%  
Connecticut   9   $41,783   $21,346   $20,437   4.29%   95.71%   1.00%  
New Jersey   10   $41,567   $20,630   $20,937   4.11%   95.89%   1.20%  
New York   11   $40,934   $25,520   $15,414   4.27%   95.73%   1.30%  
Iowa   12   $40,307   $11,958   $28,349   7.21%   92.79%   1.00%  
Pennsylvania   13   $39,473   $17,142   $22,331   6.95%   93.05%   1.00%  
Delaware   14   $38,297   $14,757   $23,540   6.24%   93.76%   0.90%  
Mississippi   15   $38,178   $9,654   $28,524   13.00%   87.00%   1.20%  
Alabama   16   $38,143   $10,116   $28,027   11.06%   88.94%   1.60%  
Minnesota   17   $37,883   $13,603   $24,280   5.49%   94.51%   1.00%  
Arkansas   18   $37,551   $10,345   $27,206   10.79%   89.21%   1.00%  
Ohio   19   $36,310   $13,805   $22,505   7.19%   92.81%   1.00%  
North Dakota   20   $36,106   $13,550   $22,556   9.52%   90.48%   0.20%  
Montana   21   $35,770   $12,105   $23,665   12.44%   87.56%   0.90%  
Maryland   22   $35,183   $14,644   $20,539   5.32%   94.68%   0.90%  
Missouri   23   $34,914   $11,249   $23,665   7.98%   92.02%   0.90%  
Kentucky   24   $34,657   $11,397   $23,260   11.29%   88.71%   1.00%  
California   25   $34,580   $14,053   $20,527   8.38%   91.62%   0.80%  
Illinois   26   $34,218   $17,340   $16,878   6.20%   93.80%   1.10%  
Wisconsin   27   $33,058   $12,466   $20,592   7.00%   93.00%   0.80%  
Texas   28   $33,050   $9,613   $23,437   10.54%   89.46%   0.80%  
Nebraska   29   $32,923   $13,004   $19,919   7.42%   92.58%   1.00%  
Virginia   30   $32,832   $12,905   $19,927   6.45%   93.55%   0.80%  
Oklahoma   31   $32,206   $9,512   $22,694   10.58%   89.42%   0.90%  
Colorado   32   $32,067   $11,540   $20,527   6.28%   93.72%   0.80%  
Kansas   33   $30,992   $12,697   $18,295   7.78%   92.22%   1.10%  
North Carolina   34   $30,246   $9,958   $20,288   10.88%   89.12%   0.70%  
Louisiana   35   $29,392   $11,691   $17,701   12.63%   87.37%   0.80%  
Massachusetts   36   $29,342   $18,269   $11,073   4.89%   95.11%   0.80%  
Indiana   37   $28,054   $10,019   $18,035   7.68%   92.32%   0.70%  
Maine   38   $27,778   $15,070   $12,708   6.62%   93.38%   0.90%  
South Carolina   39   $27,635   $10,658   $16,977   8.73%   91.27%   0.80%  
Georgia   40   $27,441   $10,769   $16,672   8.79%   91.21%   0.80%  
Rhode Island   41   $27,417   $17,024   $10,393   7.09%   92.91%   1.00%  
South Dakota   42   $27,211   $10,234   $16,977   13.87%   86.13%   0.80%  
Utah   43   $26,327   $7,478   $18,849   7.49%   92.51%   0.70%  
West Virginia   44   $25,407   $11,757   $13,650   10.90%   89.10%   0.90%  
New Hampshire   45   $24,741   $18,952   $5,789   5.30%   94.70%   0.90%  
Nevada   46   $24,712   $8,915   $15,797   8.52%   91.48%   0.60%  
District of Columbia   47   $24,573   $22,856   $1,717   6.66%   93.34%   0.50%  
Tennessee   48   $24,226   $9,546   $14,680   11.03%   88.97%   0.60%  
Florida   49   $22,852   $9,937   $12,915   11.40%   88.60%   0.60%  
Arizona   50   $20,494   $8,766   $11,728   12.44%   87.56%   0.60%  
Idaho   51   $19,661   $8,272   $11,389   9.63%   90.37%   0.70%  

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Michael Brown

Mike developed his passion for education as a math instructor at Penn State University. He expanded his educational experience launching and running an Executive Education business - training over 100,000 students per year. As the CEO of Learner, Mike focuses on accelerating learning and unleashing the potential of students.