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Digest of Education Statistics: 2013
Digest of Education Statistics: 2013

NCES 2015-011
May 2015


Table 231.30. Percentage of public school students in grades 9-12 who reported having been in a physical fight at least one time during the previous 12 months, by location and state: Selected years, 2003 through 2011
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
State Anywhere (including on school property)1 On school property2
2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
United States3 33.0 (0.99) 35.9 (0.77) 35.5 (0.77) 31.5 (0.70) 32.8 (0.65) 12.8 (0.76) 13.6 (0.56) 12.4 (0.48) 11.1 (0.54) 12.0 (0.39)
Alabama 30.0 (1.78) 31.7 (1.84) (†) 31.7 (2.44) 28.4 (1.79) 12.9 (1.21) 14.6 (1.29) (†) 13.1 (1.41) 11.8 (1.30)
Alaska 27.1 (1.55) (†) 29.2 (1.77) 27.8 (1.52) 23.7 (1.17) 8.6 (0.92) (†) 10.4 (1.17) 9.8 (1.04) 7.7 (0.90)
Arizona 32.4 (1.79) 32.4 (1.43) 31.3 (1.54) 35.9 (1.83) 27.7 (1.41) 11.4 (0.86) 11.7 (0.87) 11.3 (0.72) 12.0 (0.82) 10.8 (0.78)
Arkansas (†) 32.1 (1.67) 32.8 (1.79) 34.7 (2.08) 29.1 (1.76) (†) 13.9 (1.33) 13.0 (1.03) 14.8 (1.30) 11.0 (1.36)
California (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                                         
Colorado (†) 32.2 (1.54) (†) 32.0 (1.51) 24.9 (1.69) (†) 12.1 (0.89) (†) 10.7 (0.83) (†)
Connecticut (†) 32.7 (1.45) 31.4 (1.39) 28.3 (1.26) 25.1 (1.53) (†) 10.5 (0.72) 10.5 (0.83) 9.6 (0.79) 8.7 (0.84)
Delaware 34.9 (1.15) 30.3 (1.38) 33.0 (1.31) 30.4 (1.22) 28.0 (1.59) 11.4 (0.70) 9.8 (0.82) 10.5 (0.72) 8.6 (0.72) 8.8 (1.02)
District of Columbia 38.0 (1.61) 36.3 (1.26) 43.0 (1.45) (†) 37.9 (1.71) 15.2 (1.07) 16.4 (0.88) 19.8 (1.21) (†) 15.8 (1.55)
Florida 32.1 (0.74) 30.0 (0.94) 32.3 (1.24) 29.8 (0.83) 28.0 (0.72) 13.3 (0.65) 11.5 (0.77) 12.5 (0.84) 10.5 (0.47) 10.2 (0.44)
                                         
Georgia 31.4 (1.20) 33.8 (1.40) 34.0 (1.26) 32.3 (1.76) 33.1 (1.65) 11.1 (0.74) 12.1 (1.01) 13.1 (1.07) 11.7 (1.21) 11.9 (1.07)
Hawaii (†) 27.0 (1.37) 28.6 (2.20) 29.5 (1.92) 22.3 (1.11) (†) 10.0 (1.01) 7.0 (0.78) 10.2 (0.99) 8.2 (0.75)
Idaho 28.3 (2.00) 32.3 (1.38) 30.0 (1.39) 29.0 (1.08) 26.4 (1.45) 11.7 (1.20) 12.1 (1.14) 12.3 (0.98) 10.2 (0.79) 9.4 (0.81)
Illinois (†) (†) 33.9 (1.91) 33.0 (1.38) 29.5 (1.41) (†) (†) 11.3 (1.11) 11.5 (0.82) 9.8 (0.69)
Indiana 30.6 (2.01) 29.3 (1.51) 29.5 (1.35) 29.1 (1.51) 29.0 (1.34) 10.9 (1.14) 11.2 (0.98) 11.5 (0.92) 9.5 (1.18) 8.9 (0.80)
                                         
Iowa (†) 28.3 (1.61) 24.0 (1.39) (†) 24.4 (1.87) (†) 11.3 (1.12) 9.1 (0.96) (†) 9.6 (0.89)
Kansas (†) 27.9 (1.51) 30.3 (1.62) 27.8 (1.37) 22.4 (1.40) (†) 10.1 (0.92) 10.6 (1.04) 9.0 (0.81) 7.8 (0.84)
Kentucky 26.4 (1.66) 29.6 (1.17) 27.0 (0.98) 28.7 (1.66) 28.7 (1.65) 10.1 (1.05) 12.7 (0.81) 10.6 (0.65) 9.5 (0.93) 11.4 (0.93)
Louisiana (†) (†) (†) 36.1 (1.60) 36.0 (2.72) (†) (†) (†) 13.7 (1.28) 15.8 (2.17)
Maine 26.5 (1.39) 28.2 (1.11) 26.5 (1.93) 22.8 (0.55) 19.5 (0.46) 9.1 (1.01) 10.0 (1.03) 10.1 (1.09) 9.1 (0.33) 7.9 (0.27)
                                         
Maryland (†) 36.6 (1.83) 35.7 (2.62) 32.5 (2.23) 29.1 (1.80) (†) 14.9 (1.33) 12.4 (1.69) 11.2 (1.30) 11.1 (1.24)
Massachusetts 30.7 (1.05) 28.6 (1.33) 27.5 (1.34) 29.2 (1.24) 25.4 (0.92) 10.2 (0.67) 10.2 (0.67) 9.1 (0.81) 8.7 (0.68) 7.1 (0.65)
Michigan 30.8 (1.51) 30.1 (2.02) 30.7 (1.89) 31.6 (1.72) 27.4 (1.32) 12.2 (1.02) 11.4 (1.11) 11.4 (0.89) 11.3 (1.02) 9.1 (0.68)
Minnesota (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Mississippi 30.6 (1.66) (†) 30.6 (1.43) 34.1 (1.73) 29.3 (1.72) 10.2 (1.26) (†) 11.9 (0.96) 12.6 (1.02) 12.3 (1.06)
                                         
Missouri 28.2 (2.07) 29.8 (2.12) 30.9 (2.18) 28.7 (1.34) (†) 9.8 (0.95) 10.2 (1.31) 10.7 (1.21) 9.0 (0.97) (†)
Montana 28.6 (1.16) 30.5 (1.19) 32.8 (1.08) 31.7 (2.25) 25.4 (0.73) 10.3 (0.68) 10.9 (0.67) 12.0 (0.75) 10.8 (1.33) 9.1 (0.51)
Nebraska 29.6 (1.14) 28.5 (1.02) (†) (†) 26.7 (1.09) 10.6 (0.81) 9.3 (0.60) (†) (†) 7.4 (0.68)
Nevada 35.0 (1.56) 34.5 (1.78) 31.6 (1.53) 35.0 (1.45) (†) 12.6 (1.01) 14.2 (1.32) 11.3 (1.10) 10.0 (0.82) (†)
New Hampshire 30.5 (1.84) 26.4 (1.84) 27.0 (1.40) 25.9 (1.59) 23.8 (1.27) 11.6 (1.20) 10.7 (1.06) 11.3 (0.70) 9.1 (0.87) 9.9 (0.89)
                                         
New Jersey (†) 30.7 (2.18) (†) 27.5 (1.46) 23.9 (1.56) (†) 10.1 (1.31) (†) (†) (†)
New Mexico (†) 36.7 (1.47) 37.1 (1.06) 37.3 (1.07) 31.5 (1.02) (†) 15.6 (1.19) 16.9 (0.70) 15.0 (0.85) 11.3 (0.78)
New York 32.1 (0.82) 32.1 (1.07) 31.7 (1.08) 29.6 (1.23) 27.0 (1.25) 14.6 (0.73) 12.5 (0.74) 12.2 (0.91) 11.4 (0.91) (†)
North Carolina 30.9 (1.41) 29.9 (1.41) 30.1 (1.54) 28.6 (0.96) 27.6 (1.37) 10.7 (1.00) 11.6 (0.85) 10.4 (0.84) 9.4 (0.43) 10.6 (1.01)
North Dakota 27.2 (1.60) (†) (†) (†) (†) 8.6 (0.96) 10.7 (1.13) 9.6 (0.79) 7.4 (0.78) 8.2 (0.73)
                                         
Ohio3  31.5 (2.83) 30.2 (1.95) 30.4 (1.57) (†) 31.2 (1.58) 11.3 (1.67) 10.2 (1.17) 9.4 (0.82) (†) 8.8 (0.68)
Oklahoma 28.4 (2.61) 31.1 (1.63) 29.2 (1.37) 30.8 (2.10) 28.5 (1.96) 11.4 (1.15) 12.1 (1.13) 10.6 (0.81) 12.8 (1.43) 9.4 (1.25)
Oregon (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Pennsylvania (†) (†) (†) 29.6 (1.76) (†) (†) (†) (†) 9.9 (1.01) (†)
Rhode Island 27.6 (1.59) 28.4 (1.34) 26.3 (1.61) 25.1 (0.83) 23.5 (0.81) 11.4 (1.18) 11.2 (0.80) 9.6 (0.93) 9.1 (0.73) 7.8 (0.52)
                                         
South Carolina (†) 31.3 (1.68) 29.1 (1.37) 36.4 (2.06) 32.6 (2.04) (†) 12.7 (1.18) 10.8 (0.86) 12.1 (1.43) 12.2 (1.48)
South Dakota3  27.0 (2.72) 26.5 (2.86) 29.8 (2.00) 27.1 (1.36) 24.5 (2.22) 9.0 (1.12) 8.4 (1.56) 9.3 (1.32) 8.3 (0.52) 8.2 (0.92)
Tennessee 28.3 (1.94) 30.9 (1.66) 31.8 (1.55) 32.3 (1.31) 30.8 (1.24) 12.2 (1.33) 10.9 (1.00) 12.4 (1.13) 11.3 (0.96) 10.5 (0.83)
Texas (†) 34.2 (1.57) 34.9 (1.17) 33.3 (1.05) 34.1 (0.92) (†) 14.5 (0.94) 13.9 (0.90) 13.2 (0.67) 12.5 (0.65)
Utah 28.7 (2.74) 25.9 (1.84) 30.1 (2.01) 28.2 (1.61) 23.9 (1.88) 11.9 (1.80) 10.4 (1.57) 11.6 (1.36) 10.6 (0.84) 8.1 (1.18)
                                         
Vermont 26.9 (0.92) 24.3 (1.36) 26.0 (1.44) 25.6 (0.71) 23.1 (1.42) 12.2 (0.71) 12.2 (0.98) 11.5 (0.88) 11.0 (0.36) 8.8 (0.72)
Virginia (†) (†) (†) (†) 24.9 (1.71) (†) (†) (†) (†) 7.9 (0.93)
Washington (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
West Virginia 26.5 (1.62) 29.1 (1.88) 29.9 (2.39) 31.7 (1.96) 25.7 (1.66) 10.3 (1.39) 12.1 (1.41) 12.9 (1.70) 11.3 (1.07) 10.3 (1.02)
Wisconsin 31.4 (1.68) 32.6 (1.51) 31.2 (1.46) 25.8 (1.52) 25.3 (1.72) 11.6 (0.92) 12.2 (1.03) 11.4 (0.97) 9.6 (0.87) 9.1 (0.95)
Wyoming 31.2 (1.23) 30.4 (1.08) 27.9 (1.12) 30.9 (1.17) 26.5 (1.08) 12.7 (0.93) 12.2 (0.72) 11.6 (0.83) 12.6 (0.73) 11.3 (0.65)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 The term "anywhere" is not used in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire; students were simply asked how many times in the past 12 months they had been in a physical fight.
2 In the question asking students about physical fights at school, "on school property" was not defined for survey respondents.
3 Data include both public and private schools.
NOTE: State-level data include public schools only, with the exception of data for Ohio and South Dakota. Data for the United States total, Ohio, and South Dakota include both public and private schools.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 2003 through 2011. (This table was prepared September 2013.)