yeah, nice try (lighter=worse) Color (2012 presidential voting, study on 2016), no distinction made for swing states. States Ranked by Average SAT Scores, Adjusted Rank State Average SAT Score, Adjusted Average New SAT Score, Adjusted Raw Average SAT Score Participation Rate 1 Massachusetts 1694 1130 1556 84% 2 Connecticut 1690 1126 1525 88% 3 Minnesota 1660 1107 1786 6% 4 New Jersey 1655 1104 1526 79% 5 Illinois 1652 1101 1802 5% 6 New Hampshire 1651 1101 1566 70% 7 North Dakota 1649 1099 1816 2% 8 Virginia 1648 1099 1530 73% 9 South Dakota 1648 1099 1792 3% 10 Iowa 1648 1098 1794 3% 11 Wisconsin 1644 1096 1782 4% 12 Vermont 1640 1093 1554 63% 13 Colorado 1635 1090 1735 14% 14 Missouri 1633 1089 1771 4% 15 Michigan 1628 1086 1784 4% 16 Kansas 1621 1081 1753 5% 17 Georgia 1620 1080 1445 77% 18 Indiana 1612 1075 1474 71% 19 Florida 1609 1073 1448 72% 20 Nebraska 1604 1070 1745 4% 21 Wyoming 1600 1067 1762 3% 22 Kentucky 1596 1064 1746 5% 23 New York 1593 1062 1468 76% 24 North Carolina 1592 1062 1483 64% 25 Oregon 1587 1058 1544 48% 26 Maryland 1586 1057 1468 78% 27 Washington 1585 1057 1519 63% 28 Idaho 1585 1056 1364 100% 29 South Carolina 1584 1056 1443 65% 30 Hawaii 1584 1056 1460 63% 31 Tennessee 1581 1054 1714 8% 32 California 1579 1053 1504 60% 33 Ohio 1577 1051 1652 15% 34 Arizona 1568 1045 1547 36% 35 Pennsylvania 1567 1044 1481 71% 36 Oklahoma 1565 1043 1697 5% 37 Rhode Island 1563 1042 1480 73% 38 Montana 1558 1039 1637 18% 39 Alaska 1555 1037 1485 54% 40 Mississippi 1552 1035 1714 3% 41 Arkansas 1551 1034 1698 4% 42 Utah 1540 1027 1690 5% 43 Texas 1539 1026 1432 62% 44 Nevada 1526 1017 1458 54% 45 New Mexico 1524 1016 1617 12% 46 Delaware 1522 1015 1359 100% 47 District of Columbia 1518 1012 1309 100% 48 Louisiana 1517 1011 1667 5% 49 Maine 1511 1008 1387 96% 50 Alabama 1496 998 1617 7% 51 West Virginia 1444 963 1522 15% Each state is listed with its SAT score adjusted for (controlled for) participation rate. Other columns include the rank of the normed SAT score, the new SAT conversion, the raw SAT score, and the participation rate. Rank State Average ACT Score, Adjusted Raw Average ACT Score Participation Rate 1 Minnesota 23.04 22.9 76% 2 Connecticut 22.93 24.2 29% 3 Massachusetts 22.72 24.3 23% 4 New Hampshire 22.63 24.2 20% 5 Ohio 22.47 22 72% 6 Montana 22.42 20.5 100% 7 Vermont 22.32 23.2 29% 8 Colorado 22.31 20.6 100% 9 New York 22.27 23.4 27% 10 Nebraska 22.20 21.7 86% 11 Wisconsin 22.04 22.2 73% 12 Kansas 22.02 22 75% 13 Utah 21.97 20.8 100% 14 South Dakota 21.93 21.9 78% 15 Illinois 21.87 20.7 100% 16 Missouri 21.80 21.8 76% 17 North Carolina 21.79 18.9 100% 18 Virginia 21.79 22.8 28% 19 New Jersey 21.78 23.1 25% 20 Indiana 21.73 21.9 40% 21 Idaho 21.71 22.4 45% 22 Florida 21.66 19.6 81% 23 Washington 21.60 23 22% 24 North Dakota 21.57 20.6 100% 25 Iowa 21.49 22 68% 26 California 21.41 22.3 29% 27 South Carolina 21.37 20.4 58% 28 Georgia 21.34 20.8 53% 29 Arkansas 21.21 20.4 93% 30 Michigan 21.21 20.1 100% 31 Tennessee 21.16 19.8 100% 32 Wyoming 21.14 20.1 100% 33 Maryland 21.07 22.6 22% 34 Kentucky 21.07 19.9 100% 35 Pennsylvania 21.04 22.7 19% 36 Alabama 21.01 20.6 80% 37 Rhode Island 20.99 22.9 16% 38 Oregon 20.88 21.4 36% 39 Texas 20.78 20.9 40% 40 Nevada 20.76 21.2 36% 41 Hawaii 20.73 18.2 90% 42 Oklahoma 20.72 20.7 75% 43 Delaware 20.69 23.2 18% 44 West Virginia 20.69 20.6 65% 45 Alaska 20.63 21 37% 46 Maine 20.56 23.6 9% 47 District of Columbia 20.41 21.6 37% 48 Louisiana 20.37 19.2 100% 49 Arizona 20.12 19.7 55% 50 Mississippi 20.04 19 100% 51 New Mexico 20.04 19.9 69% Each state is listed with its ACT score adjusted for (controlled for) participation rate. Other columns include the rank of the normed ACT score, the raw average ACT score, and the participation rate. I won't even bother listing by bachelor degrees or graduate degrees because you guys will just dismiss it as "indoctrination" schools which are biased. HS Graduation ranking by state (worse to best, no adjustment for non-native population) California 81.80% 50 Texas 81.90% 49 Mississippi 82.30% 48 Louisiana 83.40% 47 New Mexico 84.20% 45 Kentucky 84.20% 45 Alabama 84.30% 44 Arkansas 84.80% 43 West Virginia 85.00% 42 Nevada 85.10% 41 Georgia 85.40% 40 Tennessee 85.50% 39 New York 85.60% 37 South Carolina 85.60% 37 North Carolina 85.80% 36 Arizona 86.00% 35 Rhode Island 86.20% 34 Florida 86.90% 32 Oklahoma 86.90% 32 Indiana 87.80% 31 Illinois 87.90% 30 Virginia 88.30% 29 Delaware 88.40% 27 Missouri 88.40% 27 New Jersey 88.60% 26 Ohio 89.10% 25 Pennsylvania 89.20% 24 Maryland 89.40% 23 Idaho 89.50% 22 Michigan 89.60% 21 Massachusetts 89.80% 19 Oregon 89.80% 19 Connecticut 89.90% 18 Kansas 90.20% 17 Washington 90.40% 16 Colorado 90.70% 14 Nebraska 90.70% 14 South Dakota 90.90% 13 Hawaii 91.00% 11 Wisconsin 91.00% 11 Utah 91.20% 10 Iowa 91.50% 9 Maine 91.60% 8 North Dakota 91.70% 7 Vermont 91.80% 6 Alaska 92.10% 5 New Hampshire 92.00% 3 Wyoming 92.30% 3 Minnesota 92.40% 2 Montana 91.80% 1