Counties With The Most And Least Educated Women In Kenya According To New KNBS Survey
In this story
- Kiambu County – 69.9%
- Nyeri County – 59.5%
- Uasin Gishu County – 57.3%
- Machakos County – 56.6%
- Nairobi County – 56.2%
- Other Counties Among the Top 10
- Kenya’s 10 Least Educated Counties
- Mandera County – 13.7%
- Garissa County – 14.8%
- Wajir County – 17.1%
- Turkana County – 17.6%
- Kwale County – 19.5%
- State of education in Kenya
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has released a new report revealing the counties with the most and least educated women in Kenya.
The report suggests that the share of Kenyan women aged 15 to 49 who have completed primary, secondary, and tertiary education has risen steadily.
These are the most educated counties in Kenya, according to the survey:
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Kiambu County – 69.9%
Kiambu is Kenya’s most educated county, with 69.9% of women aged 15–49 having completed secondary school or attained higher qualifications.
Only 0.9% of women surveyed in Kiambu reported having no formal education.
Kiambu also leads all counties in the proportion of women who have attained post-secondary school education.
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Nyeri County – 59.5%
Nyeri is the second most educated county in Kenya, with 59.5% of women having completed secondary education or progressed further.
Of these, 38.5% completed secondary school, while 21% attained education beyond secondary level.
The survey also indicates that only 1% of women in Nyeri lack formal education.
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Uasin Gishu County – 57.3%
Uasin Gishu takes a proud third place, with 57.3% of women having completed at least secondary education.
The report shows that 27.1% of Uasin Gishu women completed secondary school, while 30.2% pursued education beyond secondary level.
Only 0.5% reported having no education.
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Machakos County – 56.6%
Machakos is the fourth most educated county in Kenya, with 56.6% of its women having completed secondary education or higher.
According to the survey, 31.2% of the women completed secondary school, while 25.4% managed to attend colleges and universities.
Only 0.2% of Machakos women reported having no formal education.
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Nairobi County – 56.2%
Kenya’s capital is ranked as the fifth most educated county in Kenya. 56.2% of Nairobi women have completed secondary education or progressed to higher levels.
The report shows that 30.4% of them completed secondary school, while 25.8% attended colleges, universities or other post-secondary institutions.
However, 5.1% of women in Nairobi reported having no education.
Other Counties Among the Top 10
The remaining counties in the top 10 are Kajiado (53.3%), Kirinyaga (50.8%), Makueni (49.8%), Laikipia (49.8%) and Embu (48.7%).
In these ten leading counties, about half or more of women aged 15-49 have completed secondary school or furthered their studies.
Kenya’s 10 Least Educated Counties
At the opposite end of the rankings, several counties have lower proportions of women who have completed secondary education.
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Mandera County – 13.7%
Mandera ranks as the county with the least educated population in Kenya.
Only 13.7% of Mandera women aged 15–49 have completed secondary education or higher.
The survey reveals that 62.4% of women in Mandera have no formal education.
Only 8.9% have completed secondary school, while 4.8% have attained education beyond secondary level.
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Garissa County – 14.8%
Garissa ranks second from the bottom, with 14.8% of women in the county having completed at least secondary education.
The report indicates that 55.7% of women have no formal education.
Only 7.1% completed secondary school, while another 7.7% managed to go to college or university.
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Wajir County – 17.1%
Wajir ranks third from the bottom, with 17.1% of the county’s women having completed secondary school or higher.
The survey shows that 61% of Wajir women have no education, the second-highest percentage nationally after Mandera.
Only 11.6% completed secondary education, while 5.5% attained education beyond secondary school.
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Turkana County – 17.6%
Turkana follows with 17.6% of women having completed at least secondary education.
The report indicates that 51.8% of women in Turkana have no formal education.
Another 8.7% completed secondary school, while 8.9% attended college or university.
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Kwale County – 19.5%
Kwale ranks fifth from the bottom, with 19.5% of the county’s women having completed secondary school or higher.
According to the survey, 10.8% of Kwale women completed secondary education, while 8.7% pursued education beyond secondary level.
Additionally, 15.9% of women reported having no education.
State of education in Kenya
The KNBS report suggests that Kenya has made impressive strides in improving women’s access to education.
Nationally, about 44.5% of women aged 15–49 have completed secondary education or attained higher qualifications.
The report also shows that the proportion of women without education has declined from approximately 13% in 2003 to 6% in 2025/2026.
The percentage of women with post-secondary education has also increased from 6% to approximately 20% over the same period.
