21% of Americans are illiterate.
54% have a literacy BELOW A SIXTH GRADE LEVEL.
Are you smarter than a 5th grader was a rhetorical question.
(For the 54% a rhetorical question is … fuckit nevermind.)
It does vary slightly by year/source, but not much. Overall is around 80% literate. ~54% at 6th grade level and below. And ~20 functionally illiterate.
https://www.newsweek.com/map-reveals-us-adult-literacy-rates-state-2010175
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/us-literacy-rates-by-state
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp
https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025literacy-statistics
https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-have-the-highest-and-lowest-adult-literacy-rates/
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/
That’s depressing. I found it’s 4% of illiterate for the 18-64 years old who started school in France. https://www.anlci.gouv.fr/ressources/les-nouveaux-chiffres-de-lillettrisme-en-france-avril-2024/
