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Table 5.  Public high school numbers of dropouts and event dropout rates for grades 9–12, by grade and state or jurisdiction: School year 2008–09
 
Grade 91 Grade 101 Grade 111 Grade 121
State or jurisdiction Number of dropouts Dropout rate   Number of dropouts Dropout rate   Number of dropouts Dropout rate   Number of dropouts Dropout rate
Total2  133,456 3.2   132,869 3.5   135,172 3.8   204,022 6.0
                       
Alabama  865 1.3   900 1.6   829 1.7   698 1.5
Alaska  392 3.7   554 5.4   1,032 9.4   926 9.5
Arizona  6,684 8.0   5,082 6.3   5,976 7.9   8,431 11.0
Arkansas  872 2.3   1,330 3.7   1,739 5.2   1,699 5.6
California3  13,479 2.5   15,275 3.0   20,057 4.1   52,377 11.0
                       
Colorado  2,584 4.1   2,721 4.5   3,649 6.3   5,617 10.0
Connecticut  1,271 2.7   1,233 2.8   1,413 3.3   1,475 3.6
Delaware  717 6.1   526 5.3   384 4.4   360 4.4
District of Columbia  510 8.1   258 5.9   157 4.2   138 4.0
Florida  5,268 2.4   5,325 2.6   5,133 2.7   4,883 2.9
                       
Georgia  6,499 4.5   5,659 4.6   4,585 4.3   3,199 3.3
Hawaii  561 3.5   748 5.4   645 5.3   644 5.7
Idaho  220 1.0   296 1.4   400 2.0   422 2.2
Illinois  20,908 11.7   17,454 10.4   14,537 9.9   20,581 13.9
Indiana  484 0.6   799 1.0   1,494 1.9   2,652 3.6
                       
Iowa  301 0.8   667 1.7   1,257 3.3   2,557 6.7
Kansas  427 1.1   678 1.9   774 2.3   1,016 3.1
Kentucky  1,222 2.2   1,566 3.0   1,642 3.5   1,243 2.9
Louisiana  4,593 8.2   2,914 6.5   2,461 5.9   2,314 6.1
Maine  140 0.9   268 1.7   507 3.1   1,349 8.7
                       
Maryland  2,394 3.2   2,157 3.2   1,669 2.7   1,709 2.8
Massachusetts  2,185 2.8   2,159 2.9   2,096 2.9   2,145 3.1
Michigan  4,493 3.2   5,494 3.9   4,789 3.8   5,938 4.7
Minnesota  443 0.7   566 0.8   959 1.4   3,209 4.3
Mississippi  1,379 3.4   1,498 4.1   1,285 4.1   1,094 3.9
                       
Missouri  2,816 3.7   2,900 4.0   3,171 4.6   3,334 5.0
Montana  370 3.1   559 4.9   648 5.8   695 6.5
Nebraska  304 1.3   499 2.2   590 2.7   785 3.5
Nevada3  1,769 4.2   1,547 4.5   1,046 4.1   1,979 8.5
New Hampshire  19 0.1   82 0.5   254 1.6   771 5.0
                       
New Jersey  1,768 1.6   1,533 1.5   1,491 1.5   1,494 1.5
New Mexico  1,409 4.7   1,547 5.8   1,133 5.1   715 3.6
New York  8,244 3.5   10,535 4.7   7,501 3.9   9,784 5.3
North Carolina  7,311 5.6   6,168 5.5   5,633 5.7   3,854 4.3
North Dakota  78 1.0   186 2.4   210 2.8   283 3.7
                       
Ohio  7,228 4.5   3,915 2.7   4,767 3.4   8,199 6.1
Oklahoma  966 2.0   1,176 2.6   1,261 2.9   1,059 2.7
Oregon  557 1.2   902 2.0   1,602 3.6   3,071 6.7
Pennsylvania  2,403 1.6   3,255 2.2   3,311 2.4   4,409 3.2
Rhode Island  577 4.2   581 4.8   476 4.4   452 4.2
                       
South Carolina  2,072 3.2   1,972 3.6   1,717 3.6   1,313 3.0
South Dakota  97 0.9   194 1.9   176 1.9   216 2.4
Tennessee  1,558 2.0   1,815 2.4   2,437 3.6   3,276 5.0
Texas  7,627 2.0   9,597 2.9   8,016 2.6   16,153 5.8
Utah  262 0.7   687 1.8   1,260 3.2   2,841 7.5
                       
Vermont  95 1.2   181 2.4   252 3.2   256 3.4
Virginia  2,097 2.0   2,173 2.2   2,334 2.6   2,848 3.3
Washington  3,075 3.5   3,115 3.7   4,046 5.0   5,273 6.6
West Virginia  875 3.7   908 4.3   896 4.6   765 4.0
Wisconsin  944 1.3   610 0.9   1,414 2.0   3,444 4.8
Wyoming  44 0.6   105 1.5   61 1.0   77 1.3
Department of Defense dependents schools, Bureau of Indian Education, and other jurisdictions 
DoDDS: DoDs Overseas4  — —   — —   — —   — —
DDESS: DoDs Domestic4  — —   — —   — —   — —
Bureau of Indian Education  — —   — —   — —   — —
American Samoa  — —   — —   — —   — —
Guam  — —   — —   — —   — —
Commonwealth of the                       
Northern Marianas Islands  — —   — —   — —   — —
Puerto Rico  — —   — —   — —   — —
U.S. Virgin Islands  196 10.6   80 6.4   62 6.0   49 4.6
— Not available. State or jurisdiction did not report dropout counts or reported counts that did not conform to the National Center forEducation Statistics (NCES) definition.
1 Ungraded student enrollment counts and ungraded dropout counts are not factored into these individual grade-level dropout rates.
2 Totals include the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
3 Due to item non-response, data for California and Nevada were imputed based on prior year reported data.
4 DoDDS and DDESS are the Department of Defense Overseas Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools and the Department ofDefense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools, respectively.
NOTE: The event dropout rate is defined as the count of dropouts from a given school year divided by the count of student enrollments within the same grade span at the beginning of the same school year.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "NCES Common Core of Data State Dropout and Completion Data File," School Year 2008–09, Version 1a.

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