New information from the U.S. Census
Bureau reinforces the value of a college education: workers
18 and over with a bachelorís degree earn an average of
$51,206 a year, while those with a high school diploma earn
$27,915. Workers with an advanced degree make an average of
$74,602, and those without a high school diploma average
According to new tables released on the Internet
titled Educational Attainment in the United States: 2004, 85
percent of those age 25 or older reported they had completed
at least high school and 28 percent had attained at least a
bachelorís degree ó both record highs.
Other highlights for the population 25 years and
over in 2004:
- Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska had the
highest proportions of people with at least a high
school diploma, all around 91 percent.
- The District of Columbiaís population had the
highest proportion with a bachelorís degree or higher at
45.7 percent, followed by Massachusetts (36.7 percent),
Colorado (35.5 percent), New Hampshire (35.4 percent)
and Maryland (35.2 percent).
- At the regional level, the Midwest had the highest
proportion of high school graduates (88.3 percent),
followed by the Northeast (86.5 percent), the West (84.3
percent) and the South (83.0 percent).
- The Northeast had the highest proportion of college
graduates (30.9 percent), followed by the West (30.2
percent), the Midwest (26.0 percent) and the South (25.5
- High school graduation rates for women continued to
exceed those of men, 85.4 percent and 84.8 percent,
respectively. On the other hand, men continued to have a
higher proportion of their population with a bachelorís
degree or higher (29.4 percent compared with 26.1
- Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion with
a high school diploma or higher (90.0 percent), followed
by Asians (86.8 percent), African-Americans (80.6
percent) and Hispanics (58.4 percent).
- Asians had the highest proportion with a bachelorís
degree or higher (49.4 percent), followed by
Non-Hispanic whites (30.6 percent), African-Americans
(17.6 percent) and Hispanics (12.1 percent).
- The proportion of the foreign-born population with a
high school diploma (67.2 percent) was lower than that
of the native population (88.3 percent). However, the
percentages with a bachelorís degree or more were not
statistically different (27.3 percent and 27.8 percent,
The data on educational trends and attainment levels
are shown by characteristics such as age, sex, race,
Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry,
nativity and, if foreign-born, when they entered the
country. The tables also describe the relationship between
earnings and educational attainment. Although the statistics
are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for
regions and states.
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The data were collected in the
Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current
Population Survey (CPS). As in all surveys, the CPS data are
subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.
For further information on the
source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, including
standard errors and confidence intervals, go to Appendix G