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Education Pays...and Helps to Keep You Employed

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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau

Education beyond high school resulted in both higher earnings and lower risk of unemployment in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data released in May 2007 confirmed the benefits of college or professional training to weekly earnings and steady employment.

Earnings by Education Attainment

Census Bureau Data Underscore Value of College Degree
Adults age 18 and older with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $51,554 in 2004, while those with a high school diploma earned $28,645, according to new tabulations released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those without a high school diploma earned an average of $19,169.

The series of tables, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005, also showed advanced-degree holders made an average of $78,093.

Other highlights from the tables:

Average Earnings by Education: 2004

Average Earnings by Education: 2004

  • In 2005, 85 percent of all adults 25 years or older reported they had completed at least high school. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of adults age 25 years and older had attained at least a bachelor's degree.
  • High school graduation rates for women (ages 25 years and older) continued to exceed those of men, 85.4 percent and 84.9 percent, respectively. On the other hand, men had a greater proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher (28.9 percent compared with 26.5 percent of women).
  • Utah, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire and Alaska continued to have the highest proportions of people 25 years and older with a high school diploma or higher (around 92 percent).
  • The District of Columbia had the highest proportion of people 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher (47 percent), followed closely by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey.
Sources: 1) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Spotlight on Statistics, August 2007. 2) U.S. Census Bureau. The data are from the 2005 Current Population Survey's (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The ASEC is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide. Fourteen tables of data on educational trends are available, and attainment levels are shown by characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry, nativity and period of entry, as well as metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence. The tabulations also include data on earnings and educational attainment. Although the statistics provided are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for regions and states.