Missouri’s Public School System Doesn’t Fair Well For Quality And Safety Says Wallethub

A report released by the personal finance website WalletHub.com reveals that the public school system in Missouri needs some work in the way of quality and safety.

The study, which also took into account 30 other key metrics including drop-out rates, gave Missouri a ranking of 41st which included 36th for overall quality and 51st in the way of safety.

The worst school systems were identified as being in Oklahoma, Alaska and New Mexico while the best states for school systems are New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Full Report:

With public education spending in the U.S. reaching over $16,500 per pupil each year, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on the States with the Best & Worst School Systems in 2026, to help parents find the most worthwhile places to enroll their children.

WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of quality and safety. The data set ranges from the pupil-teacher ratio and dropout rate to median standardized-test scores.

Best vs. Worst

• Mississippi and New Jersey have the lowest dropout rate, which is 12.4 times lower than in the District of Columbia, the highest.
• Vermont has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio, which is 2.1 times lower than in California, the highest.
• Delaware has the lowest share of high school students who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, which is 2.1 times lower than in Louisiana, the highest.
• The District of Columbia has the lowest share of high school students who were bullied online, which is three times lower than in New Hampshire, the highest.

To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335