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Digest of Education Statistics
2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 221.50.Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scale score of 4th-grade public school students, by race/ethnicity, school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, and state: 2022
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
State Race/ethnicity Percent of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch1
American Indian/ Alaska Native Asian Black Hispanic Pacific Islander White Two or more races  0-25 
percent eligible 
(low poverty)
26-50
percent eligible
51-75
percent eligible
76-100 percent eligible
(high poverty)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
   United States  198 (2.1) 241 (1.3) 198 (0.7) 204 (0.6) 206 (3.0) 226 (0.3) 222 (1.0) 237 (1.5) 222 (1.2) 214 (2.0) 211 (1.9)
Alabama (†) (†) 197 (2.8) 204 (2.6) (†) 224 (1.9) 218 (4.6) (†) (†) 216 (2.7) (†)
Alaska 168 (3.0) 211 (5.0) (†) 214 (4.7) (†) 220 (1.8) 207 (2.9) 220 (6.2) 215 (4.1) (†) 208 (4.7)
Arizona 190 (5.1) (†) 205 (3.9) 205 (2.2) (†) 229 (2.1) (†) (†) 220 (4.0) (†) 216 (6.1)
Arkansas (†) (†) 188 (3.1) 201 (3.9) (†) 221 (1.7) (†) (†) (†) 210 (4.0) (†)
California (†) 244 (3.3) 194 (4.2) 202 (1.8) (†) 231 (3.4) 231 (5.0) 223 (8.0) 230 (5.2) 212 (10.1) (†)

Colorado


(†)

236

(5.6)

204

(6.2)

205

(2.4)


(†)

235

(1.5)

230

(3.9)


(†)


(†)


(†)


(†)
Connecticut (†) 241 (4.3) 198 (2.6) 199 (2.7) (†) 233 (1.6) (†) 232 (3.2) 222 (3.0) (†) (†)
Delaware (†) 237 (5.0) 195 (2.3) 199 (2.3) (†) 221 (1.9) 211 (5.4) 235 (4.3) 215 (5.4) (†) (†)
District of Columbia (†) (†) 193 (1.6) 202 (2.8) (†) 262 (2.7) (†) 258 (3.8) (†) (†) (†)
Florida (†) 255 (3.6) 207 (2.3) 222 (1.7) (†) 234 (1.8) 232 (3.5) 252 (4.9) 235 (6.6) 226 (3.4) 211 (4.4)

Georgia


(†)

242

(4.5)

202

(2.1)

207

(2.2)


(†)

229

(2.2)

222

(4.3)


(†)


(†)


(†)

202

(6.2)
Hawaii (†) 227 (2.5) (†) 215 (2.7) 200 (2.3) 232 (3.1) 228 (2.4) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Idaho (†) (†) (†) 202 (3.0) (†) 218 (1.5) (†) (†) 214 (8.7) (†) (†)
Illinois (†) 249 (4.0) 194 (3.3) 205 (1.7) (†) 228 (1.9) 223 (5.8) 234 (5.8) 216 (3.0) (†) 203 (4.3)
Indiana (†) (†) 194 (2.7) 210 (3.8) (†) 224 (1.5) 214 (6.3) (†) 222 (4.5) 214 (2.7) 214 (8.9)

Iowa


(†)


(†)

193

(3.8)

201

(3.0)


(†)

223

(1.5)

221

(4.2)

229

(2.4)

217

(5.1)


(†)


(†)
Kansas (†) (†) 195 (4.1) 200 (2.7) (†) 222 (1.7) 210 (4.2) 238 (2.9) 219 (3.4) 208 (5.4) (†)
Kentucky (†) 230 (6.4) 200 (2.6) 207 (2.4) (†) 220 (1.6) 211 (5.2) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Louisiana (†) (†) 197 (2.4) 210 (4.2) (†) 227 (1.8) 225 (5.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Maine (†) (†) 180 (7.5) (†) (†) 215 (1.3) (†) (†) 224 (4.6) (†) (†)

Maryland


(†)

238

(5.7)

202

(2.0)

192

(2.3)


(†)

232

(2.4)

223

(4.9)


(†)


(†)


(†)


(†)
Massachusetts (†) 248 (3.0) 207 (3.6) 204 (2.4) (†) 235 (1.4) 243 (4.8) 245 (2.8) (†) (†) (†)
Michigan (†) (†) 188 (3.7) 202 (3.5) (†) 220 (2.0) 215 (3.7) 239 (5.0) (†) (†) 223 (7.3)
Minnesota (†) 203 (5.1) 193 (3.2) 197 (4.0) (†) 226 (1.8) 212 (3.9) 231 (3.8) 214 (2.3) (†) 189 (9.4)
Mississippi (†) (†) 204 (2.1) 214 (4.7) (†) 230 (1.5) (†) 230 (4.3) 230 (3.7) 217 (6.7) (†)

Missouri


(†)


(†)

186

(3.1)

210

(3.8)


(†)

219

(1.5)

219

(4.9)

233

(3.4)

212

(9.9)

212

(4.2)


(†)
Montana 187 (4.4) (†) (†) 215 (5.0) (†) 223 (1.4) 212 (5.0) 231 (5.6) 217 (3.7) (†) (†)
Nebraska (†) 228 (6.8) 193 (4.6) 203 (2.6) (†) 227 (1.3) (†) 235 (4.1) 224 (4.7) 216 (4.2) 209 (6.7)
Nevada (†) 241 (4.5) 191 (2.8) 205 (2.0) (†) 223 (2.5) 210 (4.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
New Hampshire (†) 237 (5.5) (†) 197 (5.5) (†) 224 (1.4) (†) 228 (2.7) 217 (3.2) (†) (†)

New Jersey


(†)

250

(2.8)

203

(4.9)

210

(2.5)


(†)

231

(2.3)

229

(5.0)

234

(3.5)


(†)


(†)

212

(6.4)
New Mexico 186 (3.4) (†) (†) 197 (1.7) (†) 221 (2.8) (†) 219 (10.8) (†) (†) (†)
New York (†) 235 (3.1) 194 (5.3) 206 (2.1) (†) 223 (2.5) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
North Carolina (†) 242 (6.4) 198 (2.2) 206 (2.2) (†) 229 (2.2) 209 (4.7) 221 (11.7) 224 (3.3) (†) (†)
North Dakota 206 (5.3) (†) 189 (5.0) 202 (4.8) (†) 222 (1.3) 215 (4.0) 224 (1.9) 218 (4.0) (†) (†)

Ohio


(†)


(†)

190

(4.3)

195

(5.6)


(†)

225

(1.4)

221

(6.6)

234

(5.6)


(†)


(†)


(†)
Oklahoma 205 (4.2) (†) 193 (4.3) 195 (2.8) (†) 215 (1.9) 213 (4.0) (†) (†) 212 (2.7) 198 (3.4)
Oregon (†) 225 (7.0) (†) 191 (3.1) (†) 217 (2.0) 213 (5.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Pennsylvania (†) 244 (4.2) 194 (2.8) 202 (3.9) (†) 226 (1.8) 219 (5.0) 240 (4.4) 224 (3.1) (†) 212 (14.1)
Rhode Island (†) (†) 197 (3.6) 201 (2.2) (†) 229 (1.4) 213 (5.0) 233 (3.0) (†) 219 (6.2) (†)

South Carolina


(†)


(†)

199

(2.5)

200

(2.6)


(†)

230

(1.9)

220

(4.1)


(†)


(†)


(†)


(†)
South Dakota 187 (3.6) (†) (†) 207 (3.4) (†) 225 (1.2) 214 (3.7) 229 (3.5) 220 (2.6) (†) (†)
Tennessee (†) (†) 193 (3.1) 206 (3.4) (†) 222 (1.8) 214 (4.4) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Texas (†) 251 (4.5) 204 (3.2) 205 (1.9) (†) 228 (2.2) 226 (5.7) 246 (4.3) 214 (3.8) (†) 212 (5.3)
Utah (†) (†) (†) 200 (2.5) (†) 228 (1.4) (†) 234 (3.4) (†) (†) (†)

Vermont


(†)


(†)


(†)


(†)


(†)

217

(1.3)

229

(5.3)


(†)

208

(6.1)


(†)


(†)
Virginia (†) 232 (3.5) 195 (2.4) 194 (3.2) (†) 224 (2.3) 226 (4.8) 227 (5.9) 218 (6.0) (†) (†)
Washington (†) 230 (7.5) 210 (4.2) 194 (2.7) (†) 226 (2.4) 227 (3.3) (†) 204 (5.2) 207 (5.0) 231 (7.5)
West Virginia (†) (†) 197 (5.5) (†) (†) 206 (1.3) 196 (5.4) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Wisconsin (†) 219 (3.7) 186 (4.7) 202 (4.4) (†) 226 (1.5) 218 (6.5) 233 (2.9) 221 (5.0) (†) (†)
Wyoming (†) (†) (†) 214 (3.0) (†) 228 (1.2) 229 (4.9) 235 (3.2) 229 (3.8) (†) (†)

Department of Defense
   Education Activity 
   (DoDEA)2 


(†)

242

(2.8)

226

(2.4)

229

(1.7)


(†)

239

(1.2)

237

(2.0)

236

(2.1)


(†)


(†)

231

(3.0)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.
1For the United States, the individual states, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), the nonresponse rate for free or reduced-price lunch was greater than 15 percent but not greater than 50 percent.
2Includes both domestic and overseas schools.
NOTE: Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Table does not include private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, or (except in the final row) DoDEA schools. Includes public school students who were tested with accommodations; excludes only those students with disabilities (SD) and English learners (ELs) who were unable to be tested even with accommodations. SD and EL populations, accommodation rates, and exclusion rates vary from state to state. Race/ethnicity based on school records. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2022 Reading Assessment, retrieved January 2, 2024, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE). (This table was prepared January 2024.)

2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest