Way to Go, Wyoming: Best State for Racial Equality in Education
Wyoming is known as the Equality State, a nickname earned for being the first state in the country to grant women the right to vote and hold office back in 1869. We were also the first state to elect a female governor in 1924.
That being said, Wyoming has not been historically known as being racially equal. That is due in part to our relatively low population and not being particularly racially diverse.
However, in the last five years, the Cowboy State has been on the rise in both categories.
A recent study conducted by personal finance website, WalletHub, listed the "Best States for Racial Equality in Education" (2025 edition), ranked Wyoming first overall.
The WalletHub study stated:
In order to determine which states have the most racial equality in education, WalletHub compared the 50 states across six key metrics. Our data compares the difference between white and black Americans in areas such as high school and college degrees, test scores and graduation rates.
Here are few of the key metrics and how we ranked compared to the rest of the United States:
- Overall Rank - 1st
- Share of Adults with at Least a High School Degree - 1st
- Share of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree - 1st
- Public High School Graduation Rate - 4th
- Average ACT Score -10th
The Equality State still has a long way to go to 100% live up to the moniker, but it has been nice to strides we've made as state in the last half of decade.