

21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024.
54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).
https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025literacy-statistics
Specifically it is about 75% of the population being functionally or clinically illiterate as I said. This is more likely caused by the fact that American culture is anti intellectual, and not the lack of being taught etymology, as etymology has little to do with literacy.
https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025literacy-statistics