Which States Have the Best (and Worst) Public Schools? Check Yours Here

Choosing the right school system is a concern for many families.

With this in mind, WalletHub released this year's list of states with the best and worst public school systems and the tri-state area received overall glowing grades when it comes to their education systems.

According to WalletHub, Connecticut came in second and New Jersey ranked third overall among the states with the best school systems.

The overall rankings were compiled by taking into consideration the quality and safety of a state's school system. Connecticut is second when it comes to the quality of education and ninth when it comes to safety. Meanwhile, New Jersey came in third when it comes to quality and 21st when it comes to safety.

Meanwhile, New York ranked among the top 20, coming in at No. 17 overall. For quality and safety, the state came in at No. 13 and 20, respectively.

The tri-state area also made appearances in specific metrics. For example, New Jersey tied with Kentucky, both coming in fourth place, among the states with the lowest dropout rates. The Garden State is also the third highest when it comes to math test scores and second highest for reading scores. Additionally, New Jersey is among the states with the highest student-teacher ratio, coming in fourth.

Meanwhile, Connecticut came in third when it comes to reading test scores and was tied for first place -- along with Massachusetts and D.C. -- when it comes to having the highest median ACT scores.

Even though overall the tri-state area placed high in the overall best public school ranking, which state was deemed the best and which state was deemed the worst by WalletHub?

Massachusetts came in at No. 1 overall, with top quality and safety as well. Meanwhile, New Mexico came in as the state with the worst public school system, according to WalletHub.

To learn more about the methodology used, or to see the complete list, click here.