Last week, I went to a webinar hosted by the National Coalition for Literacy and the Learning Impact Network about adult literacy rates. My big takeaway from the webinar is that adult literacy is a real problem in the United States. There are many highly educated people working to improve adult literacy rates, but the compensation in these roles is low.
Adult literacy is important for voting, employment, social mobility, and public health. Populations that struggle the most with adult literacy rates are incarcerated individuals, people living in poverty, individuals with learning disabilities, and non-native English speakers. For some of these groups, adult literacy could be the barrier between poverty and the middle class.
Adult literacy in the United States
58.9 million adults in the United States, or 28% of adults aged 16-65, perform at or below the lowest literacy level. This means that 28% of the working-age population in the United States have at best a basic sight vocabulary and can read short texts on familiar topics to locate a single piece of information. This is distinguished from the next highest level of literacy, which would indicate that individuals can read paragraph-length texts, compare information from text to what is already known, and draw straightforward inferences.
71.5 million adults in the United States, or 34% of adults aged 16-65, perform at or below the lowest numeracy level. This means that 34% of the working-age population in the United States can at best complete simple processes like counting, sorting, and basic arithmetic operations. This is different from the next level of numeracy, which would mean people can complete calculations with two or more steps or processes, such as percents and fractions or interpretation of simple data and statistics.
The future of adult literacy in the United States is not exactly promising. According to the 2025 results from the Programme for International Student Assessment, there has been a 14-point drop in reading performance among 15-year-olds in the United States since 2022. Reading performance in the United States is at one of the lowest levels since the Programme for International Student Assessment began in 2000. The United States has the largest reading gap between high- and low-performers among OECD countries, meaning that the disparity between the highest- and lowest-performing readers in the country is relatively high.
65% of adult educators hold a graduate degree or higher and 37% earn less than $20,000 per year for their work as adult educators. Most of the federally funded workforce for adult educators is part-time or volunteer, and over 80% of adult educators indicate that their program’s funding is not secure. Given that adult literacy rates might worsen if high school reading performance continues to decline, investment in adult education could be a low-cost way to improve human capital across the country.
Adult literacy in Ohio
So what does adult literacy look like in Ohio?
The National Center for Education Statistics hasn’t released updated state- and county-level estimates for adult literacy and numeracy yet, but they plan to later this year. For now, we can look at existing estimates for literacy and numeracy in Ohio from 2017.
As of 2017, about 18% of individuals aged 16-65 in Ohio perform at or below the lowest literacy level. This contrasts to 22% in the United States (or 28% in 2026). Adult literacy rates in Ohio are higher than adult literacy rates for the United States as a whole. Compared to other states, Ohio is middle of the pack. Ohio is the 23rd-highest state for level one adult literacy rates. The highest states are New Hampshire, Alaska, and Vermont, while the lowest states are New Mexico, California, and Texas.
The best county for literacy in Ohio is Delaware County by a significant margin, with just 6.5% of the working-age population at or below the lowest literacy level. Delaware County is home to multiple suburbs of Columbus. The county has relatively high rates of educational attainment compared to Ohio averages, and the median household income is $133,540, nearly double that of the state of Ohio’s.
The worst county for literacy in Ohio is Holmes County, with 37% of the working-age population at or below the lowest literacy level. Holmes County also has the highest concentration of Amish residents in the world. Compared to Ohio, Holmes County has low high school and bachelor’s degree attainment, but the median household income in Holmes County is $5,000 higher than the state as a whole.
It’s possible that Holmes County’s high proportion of Amish residents means that literacy rates and educational attainment are relatively lower, while earnings do not trend downward in the same way. This could be because Amish residents make money and create social capital in ways that don’t require literacy, such as agricultural goods, crafts, and face-to-face interactions. Additionally, 49% of Holmes County residents speak a language other than English at home, compared to just 8% of Ohio. Amish residents speaking Pennsylvania Dutch rather than English could also be driving down literacy rates in the county. .
In terms of numeracy, Ohio performs slightly better than the national average. In 2017, about 29% of individuals aged 16-65 in Ohio perform at or below the lowest numeracy level. This is slightly lower than the 32% innumeracy rate in the United States as a whole (or 34% in 2026). Compared to other states, Ohio is once again middle of the pack, the 25th highest state for level one adult numeracy rates. The highest states for numeracy are New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Alaska, while the lowest states are Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico.
Similar to literacy, the best county for numeracy in Ohio is Delaware County, with 12% of the working-age population at or below the lowest literacy rate, and the worst county for numeracy in Ohio is Holmes County, with 50% of the working-age population at or below the lowest numeracy rate.
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce runs the Ohio Aspire program, which provides free services to adults preparing for high school equivalency certificates. They also offer services to gain skills that can increase employability and earning potential. In 2023, the Ohio Aspire program had a 23,290 student enrollment, including 13,996 in the adult basic education program (0-8th grade level), 545 in the adult secondary education program (9th-12th grade level), and 9,294 in the English for speakers of other languages program.
Of the program’s participants, 9,228 increased at least one academic level in 2023, 1,493 earned a high school equivalence diploma, and 2,554 enrolled in post-secondary education or training.
Adult education could be an overlooked tool for human capital development. People who can read and do math have more of an opportunity to get jobs and start businesses. The lack of investment in this means this could be an area of low-hanging fruit for policymakers looking to bolster local economies.
