U.S. Education Rankings Compared to Other Countries

The United States isn't investing as much in human capital as other developed countries, and its comparative advantage is falling behind as a result—particularly with respect to education rankings.

U.S. students' math skills have remained fairly stagnant for decades, and the country is falling behind many others that have greatly improved, such as Japan, Poland, and Ireland. Additionally, U.S. test scores are below the global average. Here's how they break down.

Comparing Test Scores

The Program for International Student Assessment is administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and it tests 15-year-old students around the world. The U.S. placed 16th out of 81 countries in science when the test was last administered in 2022. It did much worse in math, ranking 34th. 

The U.S. scored 465 in math, below the OECD average of 472 and well below the scores of the top five, all of which were in Asia:

• Singapore: 575
• Macao: 552
• Chinese Taipei: 547
• Hong Kong: 540
  
• Japan: 536

China was not included in this ranking because only four provinces participated.

The United States scored 499 in science, above the OECD average of 485 but still well below the top five highest scorers in science, which were:

• Singapore: 561
• Japan: 547
• Macao: 543
• Chinese Taipei: 537
• Korea: 528

It's clear when analyzing the U.S. results that the scores have been stable over time. They're not declining but there aren't any signs of improvement, either. There's been no detectable change in U.S. students' math scores since 2003 or in science scores since 2006.

Economic Impact of Education

These relatively low scores mean that U.S. students may not be as prepared to take high-paying computer and engineering jobs, which often go to foreign workers. Silicon Valley is America's high-tech innovation center but one reason for its success is the cultural diversity of its foreign-born software engineers.

Eric A. Hanushek, an economist from the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, estimated that the U.S. economy would grow 4.5% in 20 years if our students’ math and science skills were as strong as those of the rest of the world. But this statement would likely come as a shock to many Americans who believe that our students' skills are already among the best in the world.

Impact on U.S. Competitiveness

The International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Center reports that the U.S. ranked 12th in its 2024 Competitiveness Report—continuing a downward trend after the U.S. fell to the third spot in 2019 despite ranking first in 2018. The tumble to 12th place represents the lowest the U.S. has ever been in the annual ranking system.

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