NAEP Socioeconomic Status (SES) Index
Socioeconomic Status Variation across the Nation
Percentage distribution across states/jurisdictions by SES categories
The map below provides an overview of the distribution of public school students across states/jurisdictions by NAEP SES index categories. Use the menu on the right margin to select a SES category of interest. For grade 8, select whether to view results for the 3-component or the 4-component index.
Percentage distribution across urban districts by SES categories
The chart below shows the distribution of public school students across districts participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). For grade 8, select whether to view results for the 3-component or the 4-component index.
Performance by Socioeconomic Status
Mathematics average scores by SES categories
The results displayed in this section provide an overview of performance by the categories for the NAEP SES index categories. The bar chart view allows you to select an SES category and the bars display the scores higher, lower, and not significantly different from the average for public school students in the nation or in the large cities nationally. Use the menu on the right to view results for states/jurisdictions or participating districts. In the table view, you can sort performance overall and by each of the SES index categories.
Reading average scores by SES categories
Further Explore the NAEP SES Index
View more data on the NAEP SES indices and their component variables in the NAEP Data Explorer:
Table NAEP Data Explorer data table links for NAEP SES index and component variable results by subject and grade: 2024
| SES index and component variable | Mathematics | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 3-component index | Grade 4, Grade 8 | Grade 4, Grade 8 |
| 4-component index | Grade 8 | Grade 8 |
| Economically disadvantaged status | Grade 4, Grade 8 | Grade 4, Grade 8 |
| Percentage of students in school classified as economically disadvantaged | Grade 4, Grade 8 | Grade 4, Grade 8 |
| Number of books in home | Grade 4, Grade 8 | Grade 4, Grade 8 |
| Highest level of parental education | Grade 8 | Grade 8 |
Explore the following areas of the website for more results.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has a statutory mandate to collect and report data related to students’ socioeconomic status (SES). NAEP has defined socioeconomic status as referring to one’s access to financial, social, cultural, and human capital resources (Cowan et al., 2012). Since 1996, NAEP has used school records to report on economically disadvantaged students, relying on students' eligibility for the National School Lunch Program. To broaden the reporting of results beyond economic disadvantage, NAEP created two SES indices in 2024 of socioeconomic factors collected as part of the assessment administration.
The NAEP SES indices summarize school-provided data about students’ status as economically disadvantaged, the percentage of students in school classified as economically disadvantaged (for the assessed grade level), student-reported data on the number of books they have in their home, and the highest educational attainment of either parent for grades 8 and 12. From these responses, NAEP created a 3-component index and a 4-component index (which includes parental education data). The 3-component index has 10 points in total (0-9) and the 4-component index has 13 points (0-12). This dashboard summarizes the NAEP SES index results in three categories—high SES, middle SES, and low SES—for both indices.
In this dashboard, the 2024 NAEP SES index results are reported for the public school students in the nation, in states and jurisdictions, and in districts participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). In 2024, the SES index results were not available for the following states/jurisdictions and one TUDA district: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, and Denver because some or all of their SES index component variable data were not available for most students. In addition, the SES index results cannot be reported for private schools because the economically disadvantaged status data for most of their students were not available in 2024. For more information, users can explore SES index data in the NAEP Data Explorer, including examining data in each of the detailed index categories.