States by educational attainment

[justfollowingtheelections]

The rankings can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_educational_attainment

Green states are above the national average.
30% green states are exactly at the national average.  The rest are below the national average.

States with above average % of high school graduates:

States with above average % of college graduates:

States with above average % of graduate degree holders:

[justfollowingtheelections]

Some comments on the maps:
It's pretty clear there is a divide between red states and blue states.  The Northeast, which apparently includes Virginia too, at least when it comes to educational attainment has above average levels of educational attainment in all three categories.  Some notable exceptions are Maine (above average only when it comes to high school graduates), New York and Rhode Island (both have an above average % of college graduates as well as graduate degrees, but are below average when it comes to HS graduates, which indicates that there are vast differences between the educated elites in these states and the very poor.  California is very similar to NY and RI.
The Pacific State coasts are also highly educated.

The old Confederacy is probably the saddest story here as all states (with the exception of Virginia that has become culturally northern) are below average in all 3 categories.  Kentucky and West Virginia suffer from the same problems.  What is interesting is that the states we usually describe as the Rustbelt (which would include PA, OH, IN, MI and WI), despite having similar voting patterns to the Northeast and the West, have a considerable lack of college or graduate degrees compared to those other areas.

One of the most interesting findings when looking at the HS degree map is the clear divide between the north and the south (even California has a below average % of HS graduates), which could be explained by the greater percentage of minorities and immigrants in those states.

The most interesting case study is of course Colorado, which is above average in all three categories.  Neighboring states such as Utah, Kansas and New Mexico also have high levels of educational attainment, but Colorado stands out, which might provide an explanation for why the state is becoming more liberal.

Regarding Hawaii, where I live, I can say that the reason it is above average in HS and college degrees but not graduate degrees is because people here simply don't need graduate degrees, as they rarely have to compete for jobs with people from other places (either because of cultural differences or because of the distance from the rest of the country).  Utah, Kansas and to some extent Minnesota fall into the same category and I wonder if that is because of similar reasons (Utah for example is culturally different, and Minnesota has a reputation for being too cold which might discourage people from moving there I guess?).  The weather and the lack of a good public transportation probably also plays a role in Hawaii.  People here simply don't read books unless they have to for school, either because they would rather enjoy outdoor activities or because they drive their cars (as opposed to urban centers elsewhere in the country where people use public transportation systems and therefore have more time to read).

The one thing in the maps I don't understand is New Mexico's above average % of graduate degrees.  Can someone explain it to me?  Does the state have a growing high tech industry or something?

[traininthedistance]

The one thing in the maps I don't understand is New Mexico's above average % of graduate degrees.  Can someone explain it to me?  Does the state have a growing high tech industry or something?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos,_New_Mexico

Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_National_Laboratories

Basically... the Manhattan Project was founded here, because it was all desert and isolated and stuff.  And the legacy of that is lots of government jobs for scientists in an otherwise relatively small and poor state.

I was just about to point out the anomaly that is New Mexico, in fact.

[traininthedistance]

The one thing in the maps I don't understand is New Mexico's above average % of graduate degrees.  Can someone explain it to me?  Does the state have a growing high tech industry or something?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos,_New_Mexico

Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_National_Laboratories

Basically... the Manhattan Project was founded here, because it was all desert and isolated and stuff.  And the legacy of that is lots of government jobs for scientists in an otherwise relatively small and poor state.

I was just about to point out the anomaly that is New Mexico, in fact.

One more wikilink to drive the point home: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque_Isotopes

[ilikeverin]

Minnesota may not be above average on graduate degrees, but I'm certain it's above the median; it's just that some states have massive "oversupplies" of graduate degrees, so there's a long tail in the positive direction for the distribution of states by proportion with graduate degrees.