How often schools suspend students out of school, by state
U.S. public schools reported 2,343,672 out-of-school suspensions in 2021-22, 5.0 for every 100 students. The rate was highest in South Carolina (10.7) and lowest in Utah (2.5).
CRDC 2021-22 · per 100 students on CRDC enrollment · schools open in 2024-25 · this page first published · data checked · method
Suspensions per 100 students
- 2.5 to under 3.6
- 3.6 to under 4.2
- 4.2 to under 5.4
- 5.4 to under 6.7
- 6.7 and up
D.C. is one city system, so it is in the table but not ranked among the 50 states.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22: out-of-school suspensions and enrollment by school.
Highest rate: the top ten
Lowest rate: the bottom ten
The question and the method
Out-of-school suspension removes a student from class for one or more days, and how often schools use it varies widely by state. Across the 51 state systems with enough reporting students, how many are issued per 100 students?
Out-of-school suspensions reported to the CRDC for 2021-22, summed over each state's schools open in 2024-25, over the same schools' CRDC 2021-22 enrollment, per 100; states need 20,000 students.
Limits. This counts suspensions per 100 students, not the share of students suspended: one student can be suspended more than once. It covers only out-of-school suspensions, not in-school suspensions, expulsions, restraint or referrals. The counts are self-reported for 2021-22, a year many schools were still returning from pandemic disruption. A higher rate reflects discipline policy and reporting as much as student conduct.
Every state
All 51 as a table
| State | Rank | Suspensions per 100 students | Students (CRDC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 1 | 10.7 | 733,864 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 9.6 | 423,119 |
| Nevada | 3 | 8.5 | 476,310 |
| Louisiana | 4 | 8.3 | 640,365 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 8.2 | 1,489,576 |
| Delaware | 6 | 7.6 | 136,950 |
| Georgia | 7 | 7.0 | 1,677,906 |
| West Virginia | 8 | 7.0 | 244,230 |
| Indiana | 9 | 6.8 | 1,014,918 |
| Arkansas | 10 | 6.7 | 472,245 |
| Michigan | 11 | 6.7 | 1,383,560 |
| Ohio | 12 | 6.6 | 1,630,669 |
| Alabama | 13 | 6.1 | 726,541 |
| Florida | 14 | 5.9 | 2,751,480 |
| Missouri | 15 | 5.8 | 864,475 |
| New Mexico | 16 | 5.5 | 302,375 |
| Oklahoma | 17 | 5.5 | 642,547 |
| District of Columbia | not ranked | 5.4 | 82,321 |
| Kansas | 18 | 5.4 | 462,385 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 5.4 | 639,315 |
| Virginia | 20 | 5.4 | 1,217,861 |
| Colorado | 21 | 5.3 | 828,342 |
| Wisconsin | 22 | 5.3 | 777,418 |
| Nebraska | 23 | 5.2 | 313,799 |
| Pennsylvania | 24 | 5.0 | 1,666,522 |
| Arizona | 25 | 4.9 | 1,110,926 |
| Iowa | 26 | 4.9 | 476,923 |
| New Hampshire | 27 | 4.8 | 163,029 |
| New York | 28 | 4.8 | 1,641,732 |
| Tennessee | 29 | 4.3 | 944,113 |
| Wyoming | 30 | 4.2 | 92,599 |
| Maryland | 31 | 4.1 | 867,768 |
| Texas | 32 | 4.1 | 5,166,503 |
| Alaska | 33 | 3.9 | 124,452 |
| Connecticut | 34 | 3.9 | 486,768 |
| New Jersey | 35 | 3.8 | 1,301,422 |
| Oregon | 36 | 3.8 | 542,454 |
| Rhode Island | 37 | 3.8 | 132,038 |
| Maine | 38 | 3.7 | 161,808 |
| Illinois | 39 | 3.6 | 1,783,188 |
| Montana | 40 | 3.6 | 154,232 |
| Hawaii | 41 | 3.5 | 172,476 |
| Minnesota | 42 | 3.5 | 848,873 |
| Vermont | 43 | 3.5 | 74,555 |
| South Dakota | 44 | 3.4 | 140,533 |
| Massachusetts | 45 | 3.3 | 871,446 |
| California | 46 | 3.1 | 5,812,291 |
| Washington | 47 | 2.9 | 1,058,885 |
| North Dakota | 48 | 2.8 | 113,843 |
| Idaho | 49 | 2.5 | 311,083 |
| Utah | 50 | 2.5 | 674,923 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22: out-of-school suspensions and enrollment by school.
Related research
- 01Expulsion rate by state
CRDC 2021-22
- 02Reading school discipline data
What the CRDC counts
- 03All research
Every study
Sources
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection Discipline and enrollment by school · 2021-22