States with highest dropout rates among 16 to 24 year olds, 2016

The most recent statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that in 2016, 5.8 percent of persons aged 16 through 24 were high school dropouts.

An NCES report, Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2018, shows that, based on data from the American Community Survey, the state with the highest dropout rate was Louisiana, where 8.7 percent of those in that age group had dropped out of high school.

Here are the 10 states with the highest dropout rates.