schoolsbycounty

Counties with the Best Schools in America

Published May 1, 2026

School quality varies dramatically across America — not just between states, but between neighboring counties. The SchoolsByCounty School Score combines graduation rates, per-pupil spending, student-teacher ratios, and educational attainment into a single 0-100 metric that makes county-to-county comparison straightforward.

A score of 75 means a county outperforms 75% of all US counties on education metrics. We ranked every county in America and identified the 25 with the highest School Scores. The average score across these top performers is 96.

The 25 Counties with the Best Schools

Ranked by School Score from highest to lowest.

RankCountyStateSchool ScoreGraduation RatePer-Pupil SpendingAttainment Rate
1Alpine CountyCalifornia100N/A$23,219N/A
2Loup CountyNebraska99.5N/A$18,703N/A
3Keweenaw CountyMichigan99.3N/A$18,000N/A
4Treasure CountyMontana98.1N/A$14,412N/A
5San Juan CountyColorado97.3N/A$13,639N/A
6Esmeralda CountyNevada97.3N/A$13,673N/A
7Hinsdale CountyColorado97N/A$13,446N/A
8Petroleum CountyMontana96.9N/A$13,419N/A
9Golden Valley CountyMontana96.5N/A$13,208N/A
10Doddridge CountyWest Virginia96.597.0%$12,943N/A
11Wyoming CountyPennsylvania96.497.0%$12,718N/A
12Cameron ParishLouisiana96.397.0%$12,683N/A
13Hunterdon CountyNew Jersey95.395.8%$15,445N/A
14Kenedy CountyTexas95.2N/A$12,551N/A
15Thomas CountyNebraska95N/A$12,386N/A
16Wayne CountyPennsylvania9595.8%$14,055N/A
17Pitkin CountyColorado94.697.0%$11,236N/A
18Montour CountyPennsylvania94.697.0%$11,205N/A
19Falls Church cityVirginia94.497.0%$11,062N/A
20Billings CountyNorth Dakota94.1N/A$12,109N/A
21Bienville ParishLouisiana9497.0%$10,825N/A
22Morris CountyNew Jersey93.795.1%$13,720N/A
23Bergen CountyNew Jersey93.495.1%$13,504N/A
24Burlington CountyNew Jersey92.895.1%$12,710N/A
25Chugach Census AreaAlaska92.795.0%$14,003N/A

What High-Scoring Counties Have in Common

The top-performing counties share several characteristics:

  • High graduation rates: Almost all top-scoring counties graduate 90% or more of their students within four years.
  • Strong funding: Per-pupil spending in these counties typically exceeds the national average of $13,239.
  • Educated communities: Adult educational attainment rates above 40% are common, signaling a culture that values learning.
  • Suburban advantage: Most top-scoring counties are affluent suburbs near major metros, benefiting from strong property tax bases and engaged parents.

Methodology

The School Score is a percentile-rank composite of graduation rate, per-pupil expenditure, student-teacher ratio, and educational attainment. A score of 75 means the county performs better than 75% of all US counties. Data comes from NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2019-2023).

Data sources: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates (2019-2023). All figures are estimates and may differ from other published analyses due to methodology differences.

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