How many Americans are illiterate?

Nationwide, on average, 79% of U.S. adults are literate in 2022. 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022. 54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level. 21% of Americans 18 and older are illiterate in 2022.

What percent of Americans are illiterate?

21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024. 54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level). Low levels of literacy costs the US up to 2.2 trillion per year. 34% of adults lacking literacy proficiency were born outside the US.

Why is US illiteracy so high?

Hispanics, older people, and incarcerated people are more likely to be low literate than other US adults. Major factors influencing literacy development include education, socioeconomic status, learning English as a second language, learning disabilities, and crime.

What state has the highest illiteracy rate?

The states with the lowest literacy rates are New Mexico, California, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Nevada, New York, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Why is US literacy so low?

The burden of poverty places significant constraints on individuals' educational opportunities. Limited access to books, educational resources, and enrichment activities can hinder literacy development, perpetuating the cycle of low literacy rates within families and communities.

Why 36 million American adults can't read enough to work — and how to help them

What state is the least illiterate?

Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 93.91% literacy. Bihar is the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 63.82%. Which state in India has the lowest literacy rate? Which of the following state has recorded lowest literacy rates in India?

Does any country have 100% literacy rate?

There are nine countries in the world that have a 100% literacy rate: Andorra, Finland, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and North Korea.

What level does the average American read at?

The average American reads at the 7th- to 8th-grade level, according to The Literacy Project.

How can you tell if someone is illiterate?

How bad is illiteracy in America?

Nationally, over 20% of adult Americans have a literacy proficiency at or below Level 1. Adults in this range have difficulty using or understanding print materials.

What percentage of China is illiterate?

Literacy Rate in China (2018-2021, %)

The literacy rate reached 99.83% in 2021. Between 2015 to 2021, the literacy rate of China grew by 0.106%. On a year-on-year basis, the literacy rate increased by 0.018% in 2021. Literacy is defined by the percentage of the literate population of a particular age group.

Is US literacy declining?

According to McKinsey & Company, U.S. students lost the equivalent of nearly half a school year in reading instruction due to the pandemic. In 2022, reading scores dropped to levels that we haven't seen since 2005.

Can illiterate adults learn to read?

After 14 weeks of training with a new, optimized, literacy course based on cognitive research, six out of eight participants became able to read words they had never encountered, hence demonstrating that they were definitely engaged in decoding processes that allow autonomous reading.

What percentage of American students can't read?

Biennial testing through NAEP consistently shows that two thirds of U.S. children are unable to read with proficiency. An astounding 40 percent are essentially nonreaders.

What is the literacy rate of Russia?

Literacy Rate in Russia (2010-2021, %)

The literacy rate reached 99.69% in 2021. Between 2010 to 2021, the literacy rate of Russia decreased by 0.02%. On a year-on-year basis, the literacy rate decreased slightly in 2021.

What reading level is Harry Potter?

Like most milestones, there is no “right age.” It all depends on the kid—and the parents. But there are a few age-related guidelines to take into consideration: From a technical standpoint, Harry Potter is categorized as a middle-grade read, which typically encompasses 9–to–12-year-olds.

What is the literacy rate of Japan?

Qualities of the Japanese educational system

Japan's adult literacy rate is at around 99 percent. According to the results of OECD's PISA Programme, Japanese fifteen-year-olds showcased high levels of education in the international comparison, scoring higher than the OECD standard in all rounds of assessment.

What is Canada's literacy rate?

LITERACY IN CANADA

According to Statistics Canada, 49% of the adult population scored below high-school literacy levels; 17% scored in the lowest level. [1] Newcomer, Indigenous, and low-income populations are disproportionately challenged by low literacy.

Why is North Korea literacy rate so high?

Part of the reason is the influence of Confucianism in Korea, and the genius of the hangul language, invented by King Sejong hundreds of years ago. It can be learned by anyone in less than a week. There is a great emphasis in education in both South AND North Korea, and they both have extremely high literacy rates.

What is the least educated state in US?

Overall, 90.3% of Americans over the age of 25 had graduated from high school in 2021, with the highest level found in the state of Massachusetts at 96.1% and the lowest in the state of California at 84.4%.

How many adults can't read in the US?

by EMILY SCHMIDT | March 16, 2022

About 130 million adults in the U.S. have low literacy skills according to a Gallup analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education.

What are the illiterate cities in the US?

Washington, D.C. is the city with the highest literacy rate in the US. Others among the top three states with the highest literacy rates in the US are Seattle, WA, and Minneapolis, MN. Conversely, the top three cities ranked with the lowest literacy rates are El Paso, TX, Bakersfield, CA, and Laredo, TX.