Analyze High School Graduation Rates in Tucson, Arizona MSA

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Percent of Public High School Students Graduating in Four Years (2022)

In 2022, Arizona had 77.3% of public high school students graduating on time, ranking last out of the nine western states, data was unavailable for New Mexico. Texas ranked highest with 89.7% of public high school students graduating in four years. Within Arizona, Greenlee County had the highest graduation rate, with 94.0% of students graduating with their peers in 2023. Pima County placed last among Arizona counties with 71.2% graduating on time.

Why is it important?

Those who do not finish high school are much more likely to be unemployed, and when employed, their earnings fall far below those with a high school degree or higher. This gap can add up to a substantial deficit in earnings over a lifetime. Economic consequences follow through to the community at large with lower wages, less spending power, and the likelihood of higher costs for public assistance. A high school diploma, or its equivalent, is the basic prerequisite to college or trade school.

How do we compare?

Arizona followed the same general pattern as the U.S. in 2022, with respect to graduation rates by race and ethnic origin. However, Arizona rates fell short of national graduation rates across the board. In both Arizona and nationwide, more Asian students graduated on time than any other race or ethnicity. Arizona had 73.4% of Hispanic students and 71.9% of Black or African American students graduating on time, while nationwide, 82.8% and 81.0%, respectively, graduated on time. Between the U.S. and Arizona, the largest gap, a 9.4 percentage point difference, in graduation rates existed for Hispanic students. In contrast, the smallest gap, a 4.4 percentage point difference, existed for Asian students.

At 93.3%, Yuma County had the highest percentage of public high school students graduating with their peers in 2025. Pima had only 73.2%, placing it last among Arizona counties.

What are the key trends?

The high school graduation rate for the U.S. rose from 79.0% in 2011 to 86.6% in 2022, an increase of 7.6 percentage points over 11 years. During the same period, the share of high school students graduating on time in Arizona peaked in 2016 at 80.2%, declined to 75.7% in 2021, and then increased to 80.0% in 2025. Pima County, which also includes the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), followed a similar pattern, reaching a high of 77.6% in 2016 before falling to 70.7% in 2021. Graduation rates in Pima County increased modestly afterward, rising to 73.2% in 2025, though they remained below pre-pandemic levels.

How is it measured?

The graduation rate of public high schools is based on the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR). The “cohort” measure of four-year graduation is the share of students who comprise a ninth-grade class and graduate by the fourth year, including transfers into the class, minus those who transfer out and deceased students. For example, those entering ninth grade in the 2008-2009 school year comprise the cohort measured by the 2012 data. State-level graduation rate data primarily comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). For Arizona and Washington, selected years in the trend series are based on data from the Arizona Department of Education Accountability Reports and the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Report Card, respectively, to ensure consistency with the most recent state-reported graduation rates. County-level data comes from the Arizona Department of Education. NCES imputed the data from Virginia to come up with the Native American total.