Hardest Bar Exams by State
Mississippi has the highest Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate in 2026 (73.0%), followed by Utah (69.0%) and Virginia (63.0%). California has the lowest (31.0%).
Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate, 2026
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
All 41 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Over time · 2023–2026
The top 5 in 2026, against the median.
- Median of all states
- Mississippi
- Utah
- Virginia
- Vermont
- Rhode Island
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mississippi | 73.0% | 82.0% | 47.0% |
| 2 |  Utah | 69.0% | 76.0% | 59.0% |
| 3 |  Virginia | 63.0% | 77.0% | 34.0% |
| 4 |  Vermont | 61.0% | 71.0% | 50.0% |
| 5 |  Rhode Island | 58.0% | 69.0% | 42.0% |
| 6 |  North Dakota | 57.0% | 68.0% | 44.0% |
| 7 |  North Carolina | 56.0% | 75.0% | 25.0% |
| 7 |  Kentucky | 56.0% | 59.0% | 54.0% |
| 7 |  Louisiana | 56.0% | 62.0% | — |
| 10 |  Georgia | 53.0% | 72.0% | 38.0% |
| 10 |  Arizona | 53.0% | — | — |
| 12 |  Colorado | 52.0% | 64.0% | 43.0% |
| 12 |  Oklahoma | 52.0% | 79.0% | 42.0% |
| 14 |  Missouri | 51.0% | 63.0% | 42.0% |
| 14 |  Delaware | 51.0% | 68.0% | 33.0% |
| 16 |  Washington | 50.0% | 58.0% | 42.0% |
| 17 |  Massachusetts | 49.0% | 66.0% | — |
| 18 |  Wisconsin | 48.0% | 68.0% | 22.0% |
| 18 |  Kansas | 48.0% | 60.0% | 41.0% |
| 18 |  Alaska | 48.0% | 44.0% | — |
| 21 |  Michigan | 47.0% | 61.0% | 39.0% |
| 21 |  Indiana | 47.0% | 53.0% | 39.0% |
| 21 |  Maine | 47.0% | — | — |
| 24 |  Pennsylvania | 46.0% | 64.0% | 32.0% |
| 24 |  Iowa | 46.0% | 52.0% | 42.0% |
| 24 |  Idaho | 46.0% | 62.0% | 27.0% |
| 27 |  Florida | 44.0% | 62.0% | 28.0% |
| 27 |  Tennessee | 44.0% | 61.0% | — |
| 27 |  Minnesota | 44.0% | 68.0% | — |
| 30 |  Ohio | 42.0% | 61.0% | 32.0% |
| 30 |  New Mexico | 42.0% | 68.0% | 31.0% |
| 30 |  West Virginia | 42.0% | 50.0% | 35.0% |
| 33 |  New York | 41.0% | 60.0% | 30.0% |
| 33 |  Illinois | 41.0% | 59.0% | 33.0% |
| 33 |  Nebraska | 41.0% | 58.0% | 34.0% |
| 33 |  South Dakota | 41.0% | 65.0% | 13.0% |
| 33 |  District of Columbia | 41.0% | — | — |
| 38 |  Arkansas | 36.0% | 53.0% | 26.0% |
| 39 |  Alabama | 33.0% | 52.0% | 25.0% |
| 40 |  Connecticut | 32.0% | 44.0% | 26.0% |
| 41 |  California | 31.0% | 44.0% | 23.0% |
What correlates with Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate (2026)?
Pearson r against 2,106 other state metrics sharing at least 25 states. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate?
- Mississippi has the highest Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate in 2026, at 73.0%, followed by Utah (69.0%) and Virginia (63.0%).
- Which state has the lowest Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate?
- California has the lowest Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate in 2026, at 31.0%.
- What is the median Bar Exam Overall Pass Rate across US states?
- The median is 47.0% across the 41 US states with data in 2026.
- Where does this hardest bar exams by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Bar Exam Results by Jurisdiction - National Conference of Bar Examiners; Which States Have the Hardest Bar Exams? - Juriseducation; Which State Has the Hardest Bar Exam? - CrushBarExam.