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US Counties With the Lowest Trend in Average Test Scores

2,227 US counties ranked by trend in average test score, from lowest to highest. First are Washington County, CO (-0.0856), Park County, CO (-0.0794) and Hyde County, SD (-0.0791). The middle one of the 2,227 has -0.00305.

What this measures

Whether each new group of students scores higher or lower than the group before, in grade levels per year. Source: Stanford Education Data Archive.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 lowest counties

RankCountygrade levels per cohort
1Washington County, CO-0.0856
2Park County, CO-0.0794
3Hyde County, SD-0.0791
4Graham County, KS-0.0773
5Lincoln County, AR-0.0727
6Sully County, SD-0.0691
7East Carroll Parish, LA-0.0658
8Crowley County, CO-0.0642
9Oglala Lakota County, SD-0.0602
10Archuleta County, CO-0.0577
11Custer County, CO-0.0558
12Henderson County, IL-0.054
13Wibaux County, MT-0.054
14Pitkin County, CO-0.0533
15Montezuma County, CO-0.0528
16Thomas County, NE-0.052
17Gunnison County, CO-0.0515
18Costilla County, CO-0.0509
19Woodson County, KS-0.0507
20Hettinger County, ND-0.0502
21Wilson County, KS-0.0488
22McDonough County, IL-0.0483
23Clark County, ID-0.0482
24Foard County, TX-0.0481
25Wheatland County, MT-0.0479
26Walker County, TX-0.0478
27Crittenden County, AR-0.0477
28Williams County, ND-0.0474
29Rio Grande County, CO-0.0473
30North Slope Borough, AK-0.0472
31Otero County, CO-0.0466
32Calhoun County, GA-0.0465
33San Juan County, UT-0.0461
34Clark County, KS-0.0459
35Corson County, SD-0.0458
36Deer Lodge County, MT-0.0453
37Morehouse Parish, LA-0.0451
38Kusilvak Census Area, AK-0.0449
39Jackson County, SD-0.0443
40Perry County, AL-0.0441
41Rock County, NE-0.044
42Butler County, AL-0.0439
43Franklin County, AL-0.0432
44Big Horn County, MT-0.0432
45Tyrrell County, NC-0.0432
46Golden Valley County, ND-0.043
47Madison County, ID-0.0428
48Pondera County, MT-0.0428
49Rooks County, KS-0.0427
50Breathitt County, KY-0.0426
51Concho County, TX-0.0424
52Choctaw County, AL-0.0422
53Golden Valley County, MT-0.0421
54Yates County, NY-0.0418
55Macon County, GA-0.0418
56Esmeralda County, NV-0.041
57Clark County, AR-0.0409
58Carroll County, KY-0.0409
59Saguache County, CO-0.0408
60Benson County, ND-0.0407
61Sharkey County, MS-0.0406
62Seneca County, NY-0.0406
63Sheridan County, MT-0.0403
64Clay County, KS-0.0402
65Madison County, AR-0.0402
66Nevada County, AR-0.0401
67Mesa County, CO-0.0401
68Hamilton County, KS-0.0401
69Petroleum County, MT-0.0401
70Johnson County, AR-0.04
71Traverse County, MN-0.0399
72Jefferson County, GA-0.0397
73Clear Creek County, CO-0.0396
74Macon County, IL-0.0394
75Newton County, AR-0.0391
76Red River Parish, LA-0.039
77Eagle County, CO-0.0389
78Cloud County, KS-0.0388
79Orleans County, NY-0.0388
80Coles County, IL-0.0387
81Lyman County, SD-0.0386
82Caldwell County, TX-0.0385
83Jackson Parish, LA-0.0383
84Carroll County, NH-0.0383
85Summit County, CO-0.0383
86Humphreys County, MS-0.0381
87Roosevelt County, MT-0.0381
88Drew County, AR-0.0378
89Powder River County, MT-0.0376
90Cortland County, NY-0.0376
91Apache County, AZ-0.0376
92Danville city, VA-0.0375
93Ziebach County, SD-0.0372
94Logan County, KS-0.037
95Clark County, MO-0.0369
96Ward County, TX-0.0369
97Waseca County, MN-0.0366
98Baltimore city, MD-0.0364
99Allen County, KS-0.0363
100Randolph County, AR-0.0361

More on trend in average test score

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.