Survey on Public Perception of the Humanities
Indicator

Adult Literacy

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Although basic literacy rates have traditionally been an essential part of any statistical description of a country, such figures have lost their utility for wealthy nations because the rudimentary skills that these assessments measure are possessed by such a large proportion of the population. The high basic literacy rate for the United States, for example, sheds little light on the extent to which American adults are able to integrate information from multiple sources or make inferences from written materials, skills they need to fully participate in an increasingly complex society. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) periodic assessment of literacy of its member nations gauges the degree of literacy instead of merely classifying people as either literate or illiterate.

Findings and Trends
Findings and Trends

  • In 2023, the share of American adults ages 16–65 demonstrating limited literacy proficiency was approximately 28%, according to the OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills (also known as the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies or PIAAC; Indicator V-01a).1 The U.S. share was not measurably different from the OECD average and several other nations, including Korea and France. Chile and Portugal had the largest shares of adults with limited literacy proficiency, while Japan, Sweden, and Finland had the smallest percentages.

  • From 2012 to 2017 the distribution of U.S. adults across literacy proficiency levels was quite stable (Indicator V-01b). But 2023 saw a marked increase in the share of adults scoring at Level 1 or below on the skills assessment. Though more than a quarter of adults scored at or below Level 1, it was a modest share when compared with the numeracy assessment, which revealed that over a third of adults lacked key quantitative skills.

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Data Source and Other Information

* Level 1 or Below on the OECD Survey of Adult Skills. Adults scoring at level 1 can find information on a page but are able to respond only to “simple questions providing some guidance as to what needs to be done and a single processing step. For a detailed description of the skills associated with each of the literacy and numeracy proficiency levels, see OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), 58–68, Tables 2.4 and 2.5, https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).

Source: OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World? Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).

About the Data

For a detailed description of the skills associated with each of the literacy and numeracy proficiency levels, see OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), 58–68, Tables 2.4 and 2.5, https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).

Related Indicators

For related indicators on reading competency among children and young adults, see “Trends in Basic Reading Skills Among School -Age Children,” “Trends in Reading Proficiency in Fourth, Eighth, and 12th Grades,” and “Reading Competency: An International Perspective.”

For information on American book-reading practices, see “Book Reading” and “Public Attitudes Toward Censorship of Particular Book Topics.”

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Data Source and Other Information

* Adults scoring at level 1 can find information on a page but are able to respond only to “simple questions providing some guidance as to what needs to be done and a single processing step. For a detailed description of the skills associated with each of the literacy and numeracy proficiency levels, see OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), 58–68, Tables 2.4 and 2.5, https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Highlights of the 2023 U.S. PIAAC Results Web Report, NCES 2024-202 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024), https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/2023/national_results.asp (accessed 5/8/2025).

About the Data

For a detailed description of the skills associated with each of the literacy and numeracy proficiency levels, see OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), 58–68, Tables 2.4 and 2.5, https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).

Related Indicators

For related indicators on reading competency among children and young adults, see “Trends in Basic Reading Skills Among School-Age Children,” “Trends in Reading Proficiency in Fourth, Eighth, and 12th Grades,” and “Reading Competency: An International Perspective.”

For information on American book reading practices, see “Book Reading” and “Public Attitudes Toward Censorship of Particular Book Topics.”

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The Humanities Indicators and Departmental Survey have been made possible in part by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Endnotes

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    Adults scoring at level 1 can find information on a page but are able to respond only to “simple questions providing some guidance as to what needs to be done and a single processing step. For a detailed description of the skills associated with each of the literacy and numeracy proficiency levels, see OECD, Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, OECD Skills Studies (OECD Publishing, 2024), 58–68, Tables 2.4 and 2.5, https://doi.org/10.1787/b263dc5d-en (accessed 5/8/2025).