Money

Ranked: The States Where Education Pays Off Most

Published

June 15, 2026 7:09 am

Dorothy Neufeld

Design

Lillian Wang

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Ranked: The States Where Education Pays Off Most

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Key Takeaways

Washington D.C. leads the nation in education and income, with 66% of adults holding a bachelor’s degree and median household income topping $109,000.
States with the highest shares of college graduates generally report the highest household incomes, highlighting the economic value of educational attainment.
Alaska stands out as a major exception, earning nearly $96,000 per household despite a relatively low share of college graduates.

A college degree remains one of the strongest predictors of income in America, but the relationship varies considerably across states.

This graphic compares the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree against median household income across all 50 states and Washington D.C., using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In many states, higher educational attainment coincides with significantly higher household earnings, helping explain why some regions consistently rank near the top for prosperity.

Among the top 10 income states, the average bachelor’s degree attainment rate is roughly 44%, compared with about 29% among the bottom 10 states.

At the same time, several states outperform or underperform what education levels alone might suggest, revealing the role that industry mix, labor demand, and local economic strengths play in shaping incomes.

How Do Education and Income Vary Across America?

The table below shows where Americans are most educated and how much households earn. Educational attainment data is as of 2023, while median household incomes are as of 2024.

Rank (Income)	State	Share of College Grads	Median Household Income
1	District of Columbia	66%	$109,707
2	Massachusetts	48%	$104,828
3	New Jersey	44%	$104,294
4	Maryland	44%	$102,905
5	Hawaii	37%	$100,745
6	California	38%	$100,149
7	New Hampshire	41%	$99,782
8	Washington	41%	$99,389
9	Colorado	46%	$97,113
10	Utah	38%	$96,658
11	Connecticut	43%	$96,049
12	Alaska	32%	$95,665
13	Virginia	42%	$92,090
14	Delaware	37%	$87,534
15	Minnesota	40%	$87,117
16	New York	41%	$85,820
17	Oregon	38%	$85,220
18	Rhode Island	39%	$83,504
19	Illinois	38%	$83,211
20	Vermont	44%	$82,730
21	Arizona	34%	$81,486
22	Idaho	32%	$81,166
23	Nevada	29%	$81,134
24	Georgia	35%	$79,991
25	Texas	34%	$79,721
26	North Dakota	34%	$77,871
27	Florida	35%	$77,735
28	Pennsylvania	35%	$77,545
29	Wisconsin	34%	$77,488
30	South Dakota	33%	$76,881
31	Maine	37%	$76,442
32	Nebraska	35%	$76,376
33	Wyoming	30%	$75,532
34	Kansas	36%	$75,514
35	Iowa	32%	$75,501
36	Montana	35%	$75,340
37	North Carolina	37%	$73,958
38	Michigan	33%	$72,389
39	South Carolina	33%	$72,350
40	Ohio	32%	$72,212
41	Tennessee	32%	$71,997
42	Indiana	30%	$71,959
43	Missouri	33%	$71,589
44	New Mexico	32%	$67,816
45	Alabama	29%	$66,659
46	Oklahoma	29%	$66,148
47	Kentucky	28%	$64,526
48	Arkansas	26%	$62,106
49	Louisiana	27%	$60,986
50	West Virginia	24%	$60,798
51	Mississippi	26%	$59,127

Where Education Delivers the Biggest Income Advantage

Across the U.S., states with larger shares of college graduates tend to report higher household incomes. Among the highest-income states, bachelor’s degree attainment often exceeds 40%, while many lower-income states have college graduate shares below 30%.

The pattern suggests that educational attainment remains closely linked to household prosperity, even as local economic conditions continue to influence outcomes.

Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, and Washington rank near the top on both measures. These states are home to high-paying industries such as technology, finance, healthcare, and professional services, which attract and reward highly educated workers.

Meanwhile, states with lower educational attainment generally report lower household incomes, reinforcing the long-established connection between education and earnings. The gap is particularly notable in several Southern states, where education rates can be up to 20 percentage points lower than those at the top.

Nationally, bachelor’s degree holders earn about $13,000 more than the median worker, with California seeing the highest wage premium of $23,732 and Wyoming seeing one of the lowest, at $4,051.

When Education Isn’t the Whole Story

While educational attainment helps explain income differences across much of the country, several states challenge the trend.

Alaska is among the most notable examples. Despite ranking well below many top-income states in college graduate share, its median household income approaches $96,000. High-paying jobs in energy, transportation, and resource industries help support earnings that exceed what education levels alone might predict.

At the other end of the spectrum, some highly educated states generate lower incomes than peers with similar graduation rates. For example, Vermont’s 44% grad rate matches New Jersey and Maryland, yet its median income lags $20,000 behind, demonstrating that workforce composition and industry mix remain critical pieces of the equation.

Together, these outliers show that education is only one piece of the economic puzzle.

Why the Degree Advantage Is Evolving

For decades, earning a degree was one of the clearest paths to higher income.

While that relationship remains strong, advances in artificial intelligence and ongoing shifts in the labor market are changing the outlook for many knowledge-based occupations.

As a result, future economic success may depend not only on educational attainment, but also on how effectively states connect skilled workers with industries that have strong labor demand.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the world’s most educated countries.

Related Topics:alaska massachusetts new jersey washington dc most educated states median household incomes

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GDP

Ranked: The World’s Most and Least Taxed Countries

Some countries collect over 40% of GDP in taxes. Others collect less than 2%. See how countries around the world compare.

Published

October 1, 2026 5:01 am

Dorothy Neufeld

Graphic showing countries ranked by the percentage of government revenue which comes from taxes.

How Countries Compare on Tax Revenue

Key Takeaways

Denmark collects tax revenue equal to 45.3% of GDP, the highest globally, and more than twice the 19.5% collected in the U.S.
Seven of the 10 countries with the highest tax-revenue shares are in Europe.
Several oil-rich economies rank near the bottom, where resource revenues can reduce reliance on conventional taxes.

Tax revenue varies dramatically around the world, reflecting differences in tax systems, economic development, and other sources of government income.

Using the latest data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this graphic compares tax revenue as a share of GDP across countries in 2024.

Compare your country with its peers in the final table on this page.

Where Governments Rely Most on Taxes

Among wealthy economies, the differences are substantial. Denmark collects tax revenue equal to 45.3% of GDP, versus roughly 29% in Canada and Australia and just 19.5% in the United States.

Rank	Country	Tax Revenue as % of GDP (2024)
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	45.3%
2	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	38.8%
3	🇸🇪 Sweden	38.7%
4	🇳🇦 Namibia	35.3%
5	🇮🇸 Iceland	33.4%
6	🇳🇿 New Zealand	32.6%
7	🇳🇴 Norway	31.3%
8	🇸🇿 Eswatini	30.7%
9	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	30.7%
10	🇫🇮 Finland	30.4%
11	🇮🇹 Italy	29.6%
12	🇧🇪 Belgium	29.6%
13	🇨🇦 Canada	29.5%
14	🇦🇺 Australia	29.4%
15	🇲🇪 Montenegro	29.0%
16	🇫🇷 France	28.7%
17	🇬🇧 UK	28.5%
18	🇦🇹 Austria	28.3%
19	🇬🇷 Greece	27.8%
20	🇧🇧 Barbados	27.8%

These differences partly reflect how countries structure their tax systems and fund public services.

Nordic countries generally have broad tax bases that help finance extensive public programs, while the U.S. relies more heavily on private spending in areas such as healthcare and retirement.

The World’s Least Taxed Countries

At the other end of the ranking, oil-rich economies sit alongside some of the world’s poorest countries. Both collect relatively little in taxes, but for very different reasons.

Rank	Country	Tax Revenue as a % of GDP (2024)
1	🇱🇾 Libya	1.2%
2	🇰🇼 Kuwait	1.4%
3	🇮🇶 Iraq	1.7%
4	🇾🇪 Yemen	2.0%
5	🇸🇩 Sudan	2.0%
6	🇸🇴 Somalia	2.2%
7	🇳🇬 Nigeria	3.4%
8	🇶🇦 Qatar	3.8%
9	🇧🇭 Bahrain	4.4%
10	🇴🇲 Oman	4.5%
11	🇸🇸 South Sudan	4.8%
12	🇭🇹 Haiti	5.0%
13	🇮🇷 Iran	5.2%
14	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	5.5%
15	🇦🇴 Angola	5.6%
16	🇲🇲 Myanmar	5.6%
17	🇧🇳 Brunei	6.1%
18	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	6.2%
19	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	6.4%
20	🇵🇦 Panama	6.7%

For major oil producers, natural resources provide an alternative source of government revenue. Kuwait collects just 1.4% of GDP in taxes, while Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman are all below 5%.

In lower-income countries, low tax collections can instead reflect large informal economies and limited tax-collection capacity. Similar tax levels can therefore result from resource wealth in one country and difficulty raising revenue in another.

America’s Growing Tax and Spending Gap

The U.S. occupies an interesting position in the global comparison. Its tax take is lower than that of many other advanced economies, while federal spending is projected to remain substantially higher than federal revenues.

In 2026, federal spending is projected at 23.3% of GDP, versus revenues of 17.5%. By 2036, those figures are projected to reach 24.4% and 17.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, net interest is projected to more than double to $2.1 trillion, nearly matching all federal discretionary spending.

This leaves a persistent gap between what the federal government collects and what it spends, while a growing share of the budget goes toward servicing past borrowing.

Tax Revenue Around the World

Countries’ tax revenues vary based on development levels, institutional capacity, tax systems, and resource wealth. The table below lists countries worldwide by tax revenue as a percentage of GDP in 2024.

Country	Tax Revenue as % of GDP (2024)
🇦🇫 Afghanistan	10.9%
🇦🇱 Albania	19.8%
🇩🇿 Algeria	9.4%
🇦🇩 Andorra	15.8%
🇦🇴 Angola	5.6%
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda	15.6%
🇦🇷 Argentina	22.8%
🇦🇲 Armenia	22.4%
🇦🇼 Aruba	21.0%
🇦🇺 Australia	29.4%
🇦🇹 Austria	28.3%
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	17.8%
🇧🇭 Bahrain	4.4%
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	7.4%
🇧🇧 Barbados	27.8%
🇧🇾 Belarus	27.2%
🇧🇪 Belgium	29.6%
🇧🇿 Belize	23.2%
🇧🇯 Benin	13.2%
🇧🇹 Bhutan	10.8%
🇧🇴 Bolivia	17.8%
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	22.6%
🇧🇼 Botswana	22.4%
🇧🇷 Brazil	25.6%
🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam	6.1%
🇧🇬 Bulgaria	38.8%
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	18.8%
🇧🇮 Burundi	12.1%
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	19.4%
🇰🇭 Cambodia	12.5%
🇨🇲 Cameroon	12.7%
🇨🇦 Canada	29.5%
🇨🇫 Central African Republic	7.8%
🇹🇩 Chad	7.4%
🇨🇱 Chile	19.6%
🇨🇳 China	13.0%
🇨🇴 Colombia	23.0%
🇰🇲 Comoros	8.9%
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	13.2%
🇨🇮 Cote d'Ivoire	13.6%
🇭🇷 Croatia	27.2%
🇨🇾 Cyprus	25.3%
🇨🇿 Czech Republic	18.9%
🇨🇩 DR Congo	9.8%
🇩🇰 Denmark	45.3%
🇩🇯 Djibouti	11.0%
🇩🇲 Dominica	22.3%
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	14.5%
🇪🇨 Ecuador	13.6%
🇪🇬 Egypt	11.7%
🇸🇻 El Salvador	21.6%
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	5.5%
🇪🇪 Estonia	22.9%
🇸🇿 Eswatini	30.7%
🇪🇹 Ethiopia	6.2%
🇫🇯 Fiji	22.3%
🇫🇮 Finland	30.4%
🇫🇷 France	28.7%
🇬🇦 Gabon	13.3%
🇬🇪 Georgia	24.9%
🇩🇪 Germany	23.0%
🇬🇭 Ghana	13.3%
🇬🇷 Greece	27.8%
🇬🇩 Grenada	23.6%
🇬🇹 Guatemala	11.8%
🇬🇳 Guinea	12.3%
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	8.8%
🇬🇾 Guyana	8.2%
🇭🇹 Haiti	5.0%
🇭🇳 Honduras	17.5%
🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR	14.2%
🇭🇺 Hungary	24.7%
🇮🇸 Iceland	33.4%
🇮🇳 India	18.1%
🇮🇩 Indonesia	10.1%
🇮🇷 Iran	5.2%
🇮🇶 Iraq	1.7%
🇮🇪 Ireland	20.5%
🇮🇱 Israel	24.9%
🇮🇹 Italy	29.6%
🇯🇲 Jamaica	25.6%
🇯🇵 Japan	20.2%
🇯🇴 Jordan	15.4%
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	16.0%
🇰🇪 Kenya	12.9%
🇰🇮 Kiribati	17.5%
🇰🇷 Korea	13.2%
🇽🇰 Kosovo	27.1%
🇰🇼 Kuwait	1.4%
🇰🇬 Kyrgyz Republic	21.8%
🇱🇦 Lao P.D.R	12.4%
🇱🇻 Latvia	22.8%
🇱🇧 Lebanon	10.3%
🇱🇸 Lesotho	23.5%
🇱🇷 Liberia	11.6%
🇱🇾 Libya	1.2%
🇱🇮 Liechenstein	14.5%
🇱🇹 Lithuania	22.3%
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	30.7%
🇲🇴 Macao SAR	25.9%
🇲🇬 Madagascar	11.4%
🇲🇼 Malawi	14.1%
🇲🇾 Malaysia	12.5%
🇲🇻 Maldives	24.3%
🇲🇱 Mali	15.8%
🇲🇹 Malta	23.1%
🇲🇭 Marshall Islands	13.9%
🇲🇷 Mauritania	15.3%
🇲🇺 Mauritius	23.1%
🇲🇽 Mexico	15.7%
🇫🇲 Micronesia	16.5%
🇲🇩 Moldova	21.2%
🇲🇳 Mongolia	23.9%
🇲🇪 Montenegro	29.0%
🇲🇦 Morocco	20.8%
🇲🇿 Mozambique	20.3%
🇲🇲 Myanmar	5.6%
🇳🇦 Namibia	35.3%
🇳🇷 Nauru	19.4%
🇳🇵 Nepal	16.4%
🇳🇱 Netherlands	26.5%
🇳🇿 New Zealand	32.6%
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	20.9%
🇳🇪 Niger	6.9%
🇳🇬 Nigeria	3.4%
🇲🇰 North Macedonia	18.9%
🇳🇴 Norway	31.3%
🇴🇲 Oman	4.5%
🇵🇰 Pakistan	9.9%
🇵🇼 Palau	21.7%
🇵🇦 Panama	6.7%
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	12.1%
🇵🇾 Paraguay	11.4%
🇵🇪 Peru	14.3%
🇵🇭 Philippines	15.4%
🇵🇱 Poland	22.2%
🇵🇹 Portugal	24.9%
🇶🇦 Qatar	3.8%
🇨🇬 Republic of Congo	10.6%
🇷🇴 Romania	16.4%
🇷🇺 Russia	19.2%
🇷🇼 Rwanda	13.8%
🇼🇸 Samoa	24.1%
🇸🇲 San Marino	17.6%
🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	10.8%
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	7.2%
🇸🇳 Senegal	18.2%
🇷🇸 Serbia	23.5%
🇸🇨 Seychelles	27.4%
🇸�� Sierra Leone	6.4%
🇸🇬 Singapore	14.3%
🇸🇰 Slovak Republic	19.6%
🇸🇮 Slovenia	21.5%
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	21.4%
🇸🇴 Somalia	2.2%
🇿🇦 South Africa	25.2%
🇸🇸 South Sudan	4.8%
🇪🇸 Spain	23.9%
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	12.4%
🇰🇳 St. Kitts and Nevis	15.2%
🇱🇨 St. Lucia	19.7%
🇻🇨 St. Vincent and the Grenadines	23.6%
🇸🇩 Sudan	2.0%
🇸🇷 Suriname	18.9%
🇸🇪 Sweden	38.7%
🇨🇭 Switzerland	20.0%
🇹🇯 Tajikistan	17.1%
🇹🇿 Tanzania	11.9%
🇹🇭 Thailand	16.0%
🇧🇸 The Bahamas	17.3%
🇬🇲 The Gambia	11.1%
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	9.1%
🇹🇬 Togo	14.9%
🇹🇴 Tonga	22.0%
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	21.9%
🇹🇳 Tunisia	25.3%
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	11.9%
🇹🇻 Tuvalu	17.0%
🇹🇷 Türkiye	16.6%
🇦🇪 UAE	18.2%
🇺🇬 Uganda	12.9%
🇺🇦 Ukraine	27.4%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	28.5%
🇺🇸 United States	19.5%
🇺🇾 Uruguay	18.2%
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	13.6%
🇻🇺 Vanuatu	13.9%
🇻🇳 Vietnam	13.0%
🇵🇸 West Bank and Gaza	25.6%
🇾🇪 Yemen	2.0%
🇿🇲 Zambia	17.3%
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	11.6%

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic breaking down income tax revenue by wealth bracket in America.

Technology

Ranked: The 10 Youngest U.S. Billionaires on the Forbes 400

America’s youngest billionaires are increasingly tied to AI, with seven of the top 10 building fortunes in the industry.

Published

September 30, 2026 8:08 am

Sofie Gilbert

Ranked: The 10 Youngest U.S. Billionaires on the Forbes 400

Key Takeaways

Seven of America’s 10 youngest Forbes 400 billionaires built their fortunes in AI.
Anthropic accounts for four of the 10, with their combined fortunes totaling an estimated $62 billion.
Nine of the 10 are self-made, but the lone heir, Lukas Walton, is the richest at $44.4 billion.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just creating some of America’s most valuable startups. It’s also creating a new generation of billionaires.

The 2026 Forbes 400 includes founders and executives behind Anthropic, OpenAI, Surge AI, and Cognition among its youngest members, highlighting how quickly AI wealth has risen into the upper ranks of America’s richest people.

This visualization ranks the 10 youngest members of the Forbes 400 by age and shows the companies behind their fortunes.

Net worth figures are as of Sept. 4, 2026, and a fortune of at least $4.4 billion was required to make this year’s Forbes 400.

How AI Is Reshaping America’s Youngest Billionaires

The youngest person in the group is 30-year-old Steven Hao, cofounder of AI coding company Cognition, with an estimated fortune of $5.8 billion.

At the other end of the ranking, several billionaires are 39 years old, including Walmart heir Lukas Walton and Anthropic cofounders Daniela Amodei and Tom Brown.

Name	Age	Net Worth (Billions)	Source of Wealth:
Steven Hao	30	$5.8B	Cognition
Palmer Luckey	33	$5.9B	Anduril
Sam McCandlish	36	$15.5B	Anthropic
Jack Clark	37	$15.5B	Anthropic
Greg Brockman	38	$25.5B	OpenAI
Edwin Chen	38	$18.0B	Surge AI
Daniela Amodei	39	$15.5B	Anthropic
Tom Brown	39	$15.5B	Anthropic
Vlad Tenev	39	$7.1B	Robinhood
Lukas Walton	39	$44.4B	Walmart

Seven names on the list made their fortunes in AI. The remaining fortunes come from Walmart, fintech company Robinhood, and defense technology company Anduril.

Four Anthropic Cofounders Are Worth $15.5 Billion Each

Anthropic accounts for four of the 10 youngest billionaires: Sam McCandlish, Jack Clark, Daniela Amodei, and Tom Brown.

Forbes estimates that each holds a stake worth $15.5 billion, putting their combined fortunes at roughly $62 billion. The four range in age from 36 to 39.

Other AI fortunes include OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, whose estimated net worth stands at $25.5 billion, Surge AI founder Edwin Chen at $18 billion, and Cognition cofounder Steven Hao at $5.8 billion.

Most of These Fortunes Are Tied to Private Companies

Another defining feature of the ranking is how much of the wealth comes from private companies. Eight of the 10 fortunes are based on private-company stakes valued using recent funding rounds, according to the source note accompanying the Forbes data.

Unlike public stocks, private companies don’t have continuously traded market prices. New funding rounds can reset company valuations and significantly change the estimated paper wealth of major shareholders.

That dynamic is especially important for privately held AI companies, where rising valuations have created multibillion-dollar fortunes well before many of these businesses have reached the public markets.

The Only Heir Is Also the Richest

For all the new wealth being created in technology, the richest person in the ranking represents a much older source of billionaire wealth.

Name	Source of Wealth:	Self-made or inherited
Steven Hao	Cognition	Self-made
Palmer Luckey	Anduril	Self-made
Sam McCandlish	Anthropic	Self-made
Jack Clark	Anthropic	Self-made
Greg Brockman	OpenAI	Self-made
Edwin Chen	Surge AI	Self-made
Daniela Amodei	Anthropic	Self-made
Tom Brown	Anthropic	Self-made
Vlad Tenev	Robinhood	Self-made
Lukas Walton	Walmart	Inherited

At 39, Lukas Walton has an estimated net worth of $44.4 billion stemming from retail giant Walmart. He is the only person among the 10 whose fortune is identified as inherited.

His fortune also stands above every individual AI billionaire shown.

The ranking captures two very different paths to extreme wealth within the same generation: a decades-old retail fortune at the top and a wave of newer fortunes built around some of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies.