States with the Best & Worst Early Education Systems (2026)

While parents often focus on strong elementary schools, high schools and colleges when deciding where to live, access to quality pre-K education is just as important. According to the National Education Association, children who participate in early education programs are more likely to be academically prepared for later grades, graduate from high school and earn higher incomes as adults. Research also shows that pre-K attendance is associated with a lower likelihood of future criminal behavior. In addition, one estimate suggests that every dollar invested in early education programs for disadvantaged families can generate $7.30 in economic benefits by helping children become healthier and higher-earning adults.

Despite these advantages, universal pre-K remains limited, with only 12 states and the District of Columbia currently offering such programs, though more may adopt them in the coming years.

To identify the states with the strongest early education systems, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics, including the share of school districts offering state pre-K programs, the number of quality benchmarks met and total spending per child enrolled in pre-K.

Main Findings

States with the Best & Worst Early Education Systems

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Places With the Best Early Education Systems

District of Columbia

The District of Columbia is the state with the best early education system, boasting the highest enrollment of three- and four-year-olds in pre-K, pre-K special education or Head Start programs. In the District, 77% of three-year-olds and 95% of four-year-olds are enrolled. Very few states have anywhere close to those numbers.

Enrollment is growing rapidly, too. D.C. saw a 56% increase in enrollment for three-year-olds and a 50% increase for four-year-olds between the 2001-2002 school year and 2024-2025 school year.

D.C. also spends the most money per child enrolled in preschool, at over $27,000 per year, giving children more resources and a better start to their education.

Arkansas

Arkansas ranks second for early childhood education. One contributing factor is that the state has the sixth-highest growth in enrollment for three-year-olds and 13th-highest for four-year-olds. In addition, Arkansas spends nearly $11,000 per child enrolled in preschool each year, the 19th most in the country, which ensures that they have access to good quality early education.

Like most states, Arkansas has a robust school safety plan in place to keep children protected from harm, but it’s also one of only 17 states that require schools to be audited to make sure that they properly meet regulations.

To top things off, Arkansas has the sixth-highest share of three-year-olds enrolled in pre-K, pre-K special education or Head Start programs, and the 14th-highest share of four-year-olds.

Maryland

Maryland ranks third in the country for early childhood education, in part because of recent increases in preschool enrollment for three-year-olds. Maryland had the 13th-highest increase in enrollment between the 2001-2002 and 2024-2025 school years, at 6%. It also has the 14th-highest enrollment overall for three-year-olds.

Another area where Maryland stands out is safety. In addition to having a statewide school safety plan, it also requires regular audits to make sure everything is in line.

Finally, Maryland has the 15th-highest spending per child enrolled in preschool, at nearly $12,000 per year.

The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.