Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States
United States: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total was 11.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States, 1994–2025
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of youth population.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States is 11.6%, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 6.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States peaked at 15.3% in 1994 and was at its lowest, 10.4%, in 2019.
United States ranks 87th of 124 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 32 years of available data.
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States, year by year
| Year | % of youth population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 15.3% | — |
| 1995 | 15.0% | -1.7% |
| 1996 | 14.4% | -4.4% |
| 1997 | 13.4% | -6.9% |
| 1998 | 12.7% | -5.4% |
| 1999 | 12.5% | -1.5% |
| 2000 | 12.4% | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 12.9% | +4.4% |
| 2002 | 13.4% | +3.8% |
| 2003 | 13.6% | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 13.1% | -3.5% |
| 2005 | 13.1% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 12.5% | -5.3% |
| 2007 | 12.3% | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 13.0% | +6.0% |
| 2009 | 15.0% | +15.4% |
| 2010 | 15.2% | +1.3% |
| 2011 | 14.4% | -5.4% |
| 2012 | 13.9% | -3.5% |
| 2013 | 14.4% | +3.4% |
| 2014 | 13.4% | -6.9% |
| 2015 | 12.4% | -7.1% |
| 2016 | 12.0% | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 11.0% | -8.7% |
| 2018 | 10.9% | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 10.4% | -4.7% |
| 2020 | 13.9% | +33.5% |
| 2021 | 12.2% | -12.2% |
| 2022 | 11.2% | -7.9% |
| 2023 | 11.2% | -0.5% |
| 2024 | 11.6% | +3.6% |
| 2025 | 11.6% | -0.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 11.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 10.1%, 1.1× the median. (49 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +33.5% | 10.4% | 13.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 13.9% | 12.5% | 15.3% | 6 |
| 2000s | 13.1% | 12.3% | 15.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.8% | 10.4% | 15.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.0% | 11.2% | 13.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More work & labour data for United States
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 113,208 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 61.24 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 178,849 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.4 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.05 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 159,991 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 141,322 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 58.55 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.27 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.3372 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total in United States was 11.6% in 2025, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 15.3% in 1994.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.4% in 2019.
- How does United States rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total?
- United States ranks 87th out of 124 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The share of youth not in education, employment or training (also known as “the NEET rate”) conveys the number of young persons not in education, employment or training as a percentage of the total youth population. Youth not in education are those who were neither enrolled in school nor in a formal training program (e.g. vocational training). For the purposes of this indicator, youth is defined as all persons between the ages of 15 and 24 (inclusive).