Utah is America's most-educated Trump state
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Utah has more college graduates than any other state that President-elect Trump won in last week's election, according to a new Axios analysis.
The big picture: Education levels have emerged as a startlingly strong predictor of whether a state voted for Trump or Vice President Harris — but Utah bucks the national trend.
State of play: Across the nation, Democrats have largely lost the working-class voters who elected Barack Obama, and college-educated professionals are shifting away from the Republican Party.
- Now, people with degrees overwhelmingly back Dems, and those without make up most of the red base.
Yes, but: Utah — which has the 13th-largest share of college grads of any state at 38.3% of adults over 25 — went for Trump by more than 20%, according to preliminary vote tallies.
- Nebraska is the only other state Trump won by that margin. More than 35% of adults over 25 there have obtained a bachelor's degree, per census data.
Context: Utah has long been considered "lukewarm" on Trump, largely because many Republicans here voted for Evan McMullin in 2016. That drove down Trump's vote share relative to other red states that year.
- Reality check: Trump won Utah by huge margins in 2020 and 2024.
By the numbers: Nationally, college graduates made up 43% of the electorate, and 55% voted for Harris, per exit polls.
- 56% of voters without degrees voted for Trump.
Zoom out: Around 37% of Americans over age 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher, according to Census data.
- The states below that level are almost all reliably red, and the states above it are almost all reliably blue.
- Several of the states near the middle are closely watched battlegrounds.
- Hover over the dots in the chart for more information about each state.