College & Workforce Readiness Interactive

Data: U.S. Graduation Rates by State and Student Demographics

December 07, 2017 | Updated: January 29, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The national high school graduation rate has risen to a new all-time high. New figures released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics show that 84.6 percent of the students in the class of 2016-17 earned diplomas in four years. That’s a half-point better than in 2015-16, when the graduation rate was 84.1 percent.
Interact with the charts below to see how graduation rates for U.S. students, and different student populations, have changed over time and how your state’s graduation rate compares.

Related: U.S. High School Grad Rate Reaches Another All-Time High. But What Does It Mean?

Related Tags:

Design & Visualization: Laura Baker

Events

College & Workforce Readiness K-12 Essentials Forum Career and Technical Education Takes Its Next Big Step
Join this free virtual event to hear creative approaches to modernize CTE programs and navigate the shift away from a near-exclusive focus on "college preparedness."

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Soft Skills, Big Impact: Which Ones Matter Most for Students?
Online respondents to an EdWeek poll made it clear they value critical thinking and collaboration.
1 min read
Image of a speech bubble with texture of a brain overlapping a speech bubble with the texture of tech.
Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Schools Are Expanding Career Ed. Are They Guiding Students to the Right Careers?
Counselor shortages are a barrier keeping schools from implementing relevant and effective career prep.
5 min read
20260226 AMX US NEWS FROM PROMISE PAYCHECK HOW DALLAS 4 DA
School counselors Kendall Gray, left, and Gala Davis catch up and talk in Davis' office at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas on March 6, 2025. As interest in career education rises and schools expand their career and technical education offerings, a new report argues schools lack the staff needed to help students with career counseling that points students toward realistic careers.
Liz Rymarev via TNS
College & Workforce Readiness More States Require Personal Finance. But Does It Actually Work?
Personal finance education can influence behavior positively with specific strategies.
5 min read
Photo illustration of a young black female holding her cellphone in one hand and a credit card in the other. Floating around her in the background are a calculator, pie chart, money, credit card, and piggy bank.
Photo collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva
College & Workforce Readiness Video How a "Reverse Career Fair" Can Launch High Schoolers Into the Real World
It flips the traditional model and allows students to set up booths to display their talents to employers.
1 min read
20260507 ReverseCareerFair EdWeek R5B 5725
Dustin Chambers for Education Week