The states where public school students get the most and least teacher attention, ranked

How much individual attention a public school student receives from their teacher could depend, in part, on where they live.Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, an agency within the Department of Education, Business Insider ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the number of students per public school teacher.The data — which shows there are about 50 million students and 3.2 million teachers total in the US — covers students from pre-kindergarten to high school during the 2022-2023 school year.Vermont, which has the fewest students overall and the third-fewest teachers behind Alaska and Wyoming, has the lowest ratio in the US, with an average of 10.5 students per teacher.Washington, DC, with about 91,000 students and roughly the same number of teachers as Vermont, is second with a ratio of 11.3.States such as Arizona, California, and Florida, all with seven-figure student populations, have among the highest student-to-teacher ratios, topping out at nearly 23 pupils per teacher. The nationwide average is 15.4.A lower student-to-teacher ratio doesn't necessarily correspond with better educational outcomes. While Vermont public school students have the lowest student-to-teacher ratio, their high school graduation rates rank among the lowest in the nation.Meanwhile, Alabama and Florida have among the highest student-to-teacher ratios but rank among the top 10 for graduation rates.Still, Vermont ranked seventh in a July WalletHub ranking for the best school systems in the US, earning high marks for quality and safety. Utah and Florida ranked in the top 20. Washington, DC, which WalletHub said has the highest dropout rate in the US and the third-worst math test scores, ranked 30th. See how the 50 states and the District of Columbia rank by student-to-teacher ratio. 51. Arizona Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 22.8Number of schools: 2,429Number of students: 1,132,223Number of teachers: 49,566 50. Utah Salt Lake City, Utah. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 22.2Number of schools: 1,102Number of students: 691,906Number of teachers: 31,164 49. California San Diego, California. Kevin Carter/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 21.9Number of schools: 10,327Number of students: 5,851,877Number of teachers: 267,659 48. Nevada Reno, Nevada. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 21.0Number of schools: 748Number of students: 484,192Number of teachers: 23,076 46. Alaska (tie) Anchorage, Alaska. Bloomberg/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 18.3Number of schools: 498Number of students: 130,723Number of teachers: 7,160 46. Florida (tie) Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 18.3Number of schools: 4,230Number of students: 2,870,527Number of teachers: 156,787 44. Alabama (tie) Birmingham, Alabama. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 17.9Number of schools: 1,516Number of students: 750,923Number of teachers: 42,022 44. Oregon (tie) Portland, Oregon. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 17.9Number of schools: 1,286Number of students: 552,380Number of teachers: 30,906 42. Idaho (tie) Boise, Idaho. Joe Jaszewski for The Washington Post via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 17.5Number of schools: 795Number of students: 317,555Number of teachers: 18,121 42. Louisiana (tie) New Orleans, Louisiana. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 17.5Number of schools: 1,337Number of students: 718,145Number of teachers: 41,110 41. Washington Seattle, Washington. CPI Number of students per teacher: 17.2Number of schools: 2,549Number of students: 1,090,227Number of teachers: 63,272 40. Michigan Detroit, Michigan. Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 16.7Number of schools: 3,510Number of students: 1,433,914Number of teachers: 85,880 39. Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. : Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 16.6Number of schools: 1,781Number of students: 701,301Number of teachers: 42,124 38. Ohio Columbus, Ohio. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 16.4Number of schools: 3,632Number of students: 1,680,639Number of teachers: 102,323 37. Colorado Denver, Colorado. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 16.3Number of schools: 1,932Number of students: 870,871Number of teachers: 53,553 36. Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 15.8Number of schools: 1,921Number of students: 1,036,108Number of teachers: 65,597 35. Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota. Arthur Maiorella/Anadolu via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 15.5Number of schools: 2,690Number of students: 870,019Number of teachers: 56,124 34. North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina. Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 15.4Number of schools: 2,716Number of students: 1,541,722Number of teachers: 99,980 32. Kentucky (tie) Lexington, Kentucky. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 15.3Number of schools: 1,542Number of students: 660,029Number of teachers: 43,023 32. Tennessee (tie) Nashville, Tennessee. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 15.3Number of schools: 1,900Number of students: 1,006,752Number of teachers: 65,781 31. Texas Houston, Texas. Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.8Number of schools: 9,180Number of students: 5,519,599Number of teachers: 373,332 30. New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.6Number of schools: 890Number of students: 315,023Number of teachers: 21,572 29. Georgia Atlanta, Georgia. Prince Williams/WireImage Number of students per teacher: 14.4Number of schools: 2,316Number of students: 1,750,972Number of teachers: 121,301 28. Maryland Baltimore, Maryland. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.3Number of schools: 1,410Number of students: 889,960Number of teachers: 62,236 26. Delaware (tie) Wilmington, Delaware. : Matthew Lovette/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.2Number of schools: 229Number of students: 141,465Number of teachers: 9,991 26. Hawaii (tie) Honolulu, Hawaii. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.2Number of schools: 295Number of students: 170,209Number of teachers: 11,984 24. Iowa (tie) Des Moines, Iowa. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.1Number of schools: 1,327Number of students: 511,297Number of teachers: 36,138 24. South Carolina (tie) Charleston, South Carolina. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 14.1Number of schools: 1,264Number of students: 789,231Number of teachers: 55,947 22. Nebraska (tie) Omaha, Nebraska. Bloomberg/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.8Number of schools: 1,092Number of students: 329,234Number of teachers: 23,911 22. South Dakota (tie) Sioux Falls, South Dakota. : Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.8Number of schools: 720Number of students: 141,888Number of teachers: 10,261 19. Illinois (tie) Chicago, Illinois. Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.7Number of schools: 4,408Number of students: 1,852,242Number of teachers: 135,363 19. Montana (tie) Butte, Montana. Janie Osborne/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.7Number of schools: 826Number of students: 150,733Number of teachers: 11,036 19. Wisconsin (tie) Milwaukee, Wisconsin. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.7Number of schools: 2,235Number of students: 823,040Number of teachers: 60,011 18. Virginia Virginia Beach, Virginia. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.6Number of schools: 2,132Number of students: 1,260,351Number of teachers: 92,651 17. West Virginia Charleston, West Virginia. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.5Number of schools: 684Number of students: 251,224Number of teachers: 18,670 16. Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.3Number of schools: 2,936Number of students: 1,693,347Number of teachers: 127,037 15. Mississippi Jackson, Mississippi. Rory Doyle / AFP via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 13.0Number of schools: 1,038Number of students: 440,285Number of teachers: 33,768 14. Kansas Wichita, Kansas. : Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.9Number of schools: 1,355Number of students: 487,978Number of teachers: 37,885 13. Missouri St. Louis, Missouri. : Visions of America/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.8Number of schools: 2,473Number of students: 892,246Number of teachers: 69,838 11. Arkansas (tie) Little Rock, Arkansas. : Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.7Number of schools: 1,098Number of students: 493,130Number of teachers: 38,815 11. Rhode Island (tie) Providence, Rhode Island. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.7Number of schools: 316Number of students: 137,449Number of teachers: 10,786 10. Wyoming Sinclair, Wyoming. : Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.6Number of schools: 361Number of students: 92,467Number of teachers: 7,312 9. North Dakota Fargo, North Dakota. Bloomberg/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.4Number of schools: 511Number of students: 118,513Number of teachers: 9,581 8. Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts. Austin DeSisto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 12.0Number of schools: 1,837Number of students: 923,349Number of teachers: 76,978 7. New Jersey Jersey City, New Jersey. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.8Number of schools: 2,562Number of students: 1,383,830Number of teachers: 117,661 5. Connecticut (tie) Hartford, Connecticut. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.7Number of schools: 1,013Number of students: 513,513Number of teachers: 44,007 5. New York (tie) New York City. Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.7Number of schools: 4,812Number of students: 2,532,888Number of teachers: 215,761 4. New Hampshire Manchester, New Hampshire. John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.5Number of schools: 502Number of students: 168,909Number of teachers: 14,731 3. Maine Portland, Maine. Ben McCanna/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.4Number of schools: 597Number of students: 173,853Number of teachers: 15,192 2. District of Columbia Washington, DC. Kevin Carter/Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 11.3Number of schools: 244Number of students: 91,001Number of teachers: 8,052 1. Vermont Woodstock, Vermont. : Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Number of students per teacher: 10.5Number of schools: 305Number of students: 83,654Number of teachers: 7,934