Adult Numeracy in the United States

DATA POINT

September 2020

NCES 2020-025

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

A Publication of the National Center for Education Statistics at IES

Using the data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this Data Point 

summarizes the number of U.S. adults with low levels of numeracy and describes how they differ by nativity status1

 and 

race/ethnicity.

PIAAC is a large-scale international2

study of working-age adults (ages 

16–65) that assesses adult skills in 

three domains (literacy, numeracy, 

and digital problem solving) and 

collects information on adults’ 

education, work experience, and 

other background characteristics. 

In the United States, when the 

study was conducted in 2012 and 

2014, respondents were first asked 

questions about their background, 

with an option to be interviewed 

in English or Spanish, followed by 

a skills assessment in English. In 

addition, an interactive mapping tool 

(Krenzke et al. 2020) was produced to 

provide estimates of adults’ literacy 

and numeracy skills for all U.S. states 

and counties based on combined 

PIAAC data from 2012, 2014, and 2017.

PIAAC defines numeracy as “the 

ability to access, use, interpret 

and communicate mathematical 

information and ideas in order 

to engage in and manage the 

mathematical demands of a range of 

situations in adult life” (p. 75, OECD 

2013). Results in this Data Point are 

presented as the number of adults 

at numeracy proficiency levels. 

These levels are described in terms 

of the types of tasks those adults are 

likely to complete successfully at a 

particular level. PIAAC reports out 

five numeracy proficiency levels: 

from below level 1 to level 4/5.3

 Adults 

with low levels of numeracy are 

defined, consistent with international 

reports (OECD 2013), as those 

performing on PIAAC’s numeracy 

assessment at “level 1 or below” or 

those who could not participate in 

the survey,4

 as explained below. 

What are the rates of numeracy 

proficiency in the United States? 

Over two in three (70 percent) U.S. 

adults have sufficient numeracy skills 

to make calculations with whole 

numbers and percentages, estimate 

numbers or quantity, and interpret 

simple statistics in text or tables—

numeracy skills at level 2 or above 

in PIAAC (OECD 2013). In contrast, 

nearly one in three U.S. adults (30 

percent) has difficulty completing 

such tasks in English (FIGURE 1). 

This translates into 62.7 million U.S. 

adults who possess low numeracy 

skills in English: 38.6 million at level 

1, 16.0 million below level 1, while 

8.2 million could not participate in 

PIAAC’s background survey either 

because of a language barrier or a 

cognitive or physical inability to be 

interviewed. These adults who were 

unable to participate are categorized 

as having low numeracy skills, as is 

done in international reports (OECD 

2013), although no direct assessment 

of their skills is available.

FIGURE 1. Number of adults age 16 to 65 at each level of proficiency on the 

PIAAC numeracy scale and those who could not participate: 2012 and 2014

200

Millions of U.S. adults

150

100

50

8.2 16.0

66.5

56.9

20.0

0

Low numeracy in English

Could not

participate

(4.0%)

Below

level 1

(7.8%)

Level 1

(18.7%)

Level 2

(32.3%)

Level 3

(27.6%)

Level 4/5

(9.7%)

Mid or high numeracy in English

38.6

NOTE: Standard error tables are available at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.

asp?pubid=2020025. Percentages of U.S. adults age 16 to 65 at each level of proficiency on 

the PIAAC numeracy scale appear in parentheses. Low numeracy in English is defined as 

those performing at PIAAC numeracy proficiency level 1 or below or who could not 

participate due to a language barrier or a cognitive or physical inability to be interviewed. 

Mid or High numeracy in English is defined as those performing at PIAAC numeracy 

proficiency level 2 or above. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program 

for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014.

Data in this report are from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). To learn more, visit https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac.

For questions about content or to view this report online, go to https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020025.
Adult Numeracy in the United States

Adults classified as below level 1 

may be considered not functionally 

numerate in English. They cannot 

successfully complete one-step 

tasks presented in English involving 

counting, sorting, and identifying 

elements of simple graphs and 

spatial representations (OECD 2013).

What is the makeup of adults 

with low numeracy skills 

by nativity status and race/

ethnicity?

U.S.-born adults make up about 

three-fourths of adults with low 

levels of numeracy skills in the 

United States. However, the nonU.S.-born are overrepresented 

among such low-skilled adults. NonU.S.-born adults comprise 24 percent 

of the population with low numeracy 

skills, compared to 15 percent of the 

total population (FIGURE 2). 

White adults make up the largest 

percentage of U.S. adults with low 

levels of numeracy, 39 percent, 

followed by that of Hispanic and 

Black adults, 28 and 26 percent, 

respectively (FIGURE 3). 

By race/ethnicity and nativity status, 

the largest percentage of those 

with low numeracy skills are White 

U.S.-born adults, who represent 

about two-fifths of such low-skilled 

population. Black U.S.-born adults 

make up close to a quarter of these 

low-skilled adults in the United 

States (FIGURE 3). 

FIGURE 2. Percentage of all adults and low-skilled adults age 16 to 65, 

by nativity status: 2012 and 2014

All adults

Low numeracy adults

0 20 40 60 80 100

24

85 15

76

Born in the United States Born outside of the United States

Percent of subpopulation

NOTE: Standard error tables are available at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.

asp?pubid=2020025. Adults with low numeracy skills are defined as those performing at 

PIAAC numeracy proficiency level 1 or below. Adults who could not participate are 

excluded. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program 

for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014.

FIGURE 3. Percentage of low-skilled adults age 16 to 65, by nativity status 

and race/ethnicity: 2012 and 2014

Percent of subpopulation

Low numeracy adults

Born in the United States Born outside of the United States

38 1

White

39%

23 3

Black

26%

11 17

Hispanic

28%

4 3

Other

7%

NOTE: Standard error tables are available at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.

asp?pubid=2020025. Adults with low numeracy skills are defined as those performing at 

PIAAC numeracy proficiency level 1 or below. Adults who could not participate are 

excluded.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program 

for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014. References

Krenzke, T., Ren, W., Paul, A., Schneider, 

A., Karne, V., Abbott, M., Kemmerer, J., 

Mohadjer, L., and Hogan, J. (2020). U.S. 

PIAAC Skills Map: State and County Indicators 

of Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NCES 

2020-047). U.S. Department of Education. 

Washington, DC: National Center for 

Education Statistics. Retrieved July 28, 

2020, from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/

piaac/skillsmap.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD) (2013). OECD Skills 

Outlook 2013: First Results From the Survey 

of Adult Skills. Paris: OECD Publishing. 

Retrieved June 29, 2018, from http://dx.doi.

org/10.1787/9789264204256-en.

Rampey, B.D., Finnegan, R., Goodman, M., 

Mohadjer, L., Krenzke, T., Hogan, J., 

and Provasnik, S. (2016). Skills of U.S. 

Unemployed, Young, and Older Adults in 

Sharper Focus: Results From the Program 

for the International Assessment of Adult 

Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014: First Look 

(NCES 2016-039rev). U.S. Department of 

Education. Washington, DC: National 

Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 

October 30, 2018, from https://nces.ed.gov/

pubs2016/2016039rev.pdf.

Endnotes

1

 Nativity status refers to whether the 

respondent was born in the United States or 

born outside the United States.

2

 This international study is coordinated by 

the Organization for Economic Cooperation 

and Development (OECD) and developed by 

participating countries with the support of the 

OECD.

3

 This analysis combines the top two proficiency 

levels (levels 4 and 5), following the OECD’s 

reporting convention (OECD 2013), because 

across all participating countries, no more 

than 2 percent of adults reached level 5.

4

 Unlike in the U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014 First 

Look (Rampey et al. 2016), those who could 

not participate are included in the numeracy 

proficiency distribution shown here. Referred 

to as “literacy-related nonresponse cases,” these 

adults who could not participate are typically not 

shown because virtually all information about 

them is missing.

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents information on an education topic of current interest. It was authored by Saida 

Mamedova and Emily Pawlowski of the American Institutes for Research. Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling variability, and apparent 

differences may not be statistically significant. All stated differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing 

of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize effects of nonsampling errors, such as item response, measurement error, data processing error, or other 

systematic error.