What percentage of the US can't read?

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 is the average reading ability in the US?

National literacy scores by state

The Education Department found that the national average literacy score is 264. Minnesota and New Hampshire have the highest literacy scores of any state at 279. On the other hand, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico have the lowest average scores at 252.

How many 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 illiteracy rate in the US 2023?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 79% of American adults have medium to high English literacy skills. This means that 21%, or about 43 million adults, have low literacy skills, bordering on illiteracy.

Why is US literacy rate 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

Is America becoming less literate?

Along with declining literacy rates, interest in reading books is also waning. About a fourth of Americans have not read a book in the past year according to Pew Research. The desire to read sophisticated texts has diminished as well.

Does America have a literacy issue?

According to the US Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million American adults can't read, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that 50 percent of US adults can't read a book written at an eighth-grade level.

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 percent of US is functionally illiterate?

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 21 percent of adults in the United States (about 43 million) fall into the illiterate/functionally illiterate category.

What is the most illiterate state?

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

What percentage of American kids can't read?

This may be why. (NewsNation) — Teachers around the country are noticing their students can't read, and the culprit might be how reading is taught.

Why are so many American kids struggling to read?

In short, children raised in poverty, those with limited proficiency in English, those from homes where the parents' reading levels and practices are low, and those with speech, language, and hearing handicaps are at increased risk of reading failure.

Are there people in the US who cant read?

Approximately 32 million adults in the United States can't read, according to the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 50 percent of U.S. adults can't read a book written at an eighth-grade level.

What country has the lowest literacy rate?

Countries With Lowest Literacy Rate

Niger is the country with the lowest literacy rate, standing at a meager 19.10%. Following closely behind is Guinea with a literacy rate of 30.47%. South Sudan's literacy rate stands at 31.98%, making it the third country with the lowest literacy rate.

What is the literacy rate of UK?

While in the UK the literacy rate is 99%, when you stop and think about that, you realise it means that one person in every hundred struggles to read and write. Even in the US, where the literacy rate is 99% too, 36 million adults can't maintain employment because of their inability to read or write.

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 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.

How many people in England are considered functionally illiterate?

16% Adults in the UK are considered to be "Functionally Illiterate" with 1 in 5 adults having difficulty reading and writing.

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 Canada is illiterate?

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.

How serious is America's literacy problem?

In the United States, 54% of American adults read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level, and nearly one in five adults reads below a third-grade level. Lower literacy rates directly correlate to higher unemployment rates, reduced income, and overall impacts U.S. competitiveness on the global stage.

What is the reading crisis in America?

There is overwhelming evidence that nearly all children can learn to read. But in schools across the country, many students — especially students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities — are not yet skillful readers.

What percent of Americans read?

Around 75 percent of adults read at least 1 book a year.

Who has the lowest literacy rate in us?

1. California

California's 23.1% of adults lacking basic prose literacy skills make California have the lowest literacy rate of 76.9%.