Earnings Gap Highlighted by Census Bureau Data on Educational Attainment

Adults with advanced degrees earn four times more than those with less than a high school diploma, according to tabulations released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The series of tables, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2006, showed adults 18 and older with a master’s, professional or doctoral degree earned an average of $79,946, while those with less than a high school diploma earned about $19,915.

The tables also showed adults with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $54,689 in 2005, while those with a high school diploma earned $29,448.

Other highlights from the tables:

In 2006, 86 percent of all adults 25 and older reported they had completed at least high school. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of adults 25 and older had attained at least a bachelor’s degree.
High school graduation rates for women 25 and older continued to exceed those of men, 86 percent and 85 percent, respectively. However, a larger proportion of men held a bachelor’s degree or higher (29 percent compared with 27 percent of women).
Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (91 percent), followed by Asians (87 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).
Minnesota and Alaska had the highest proportions of people 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher (around 93 percent).
The District of Columbia had the highest proportion of people 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher (49 percent).
The package contains 14 tables of data on educational trends and attainment levels. Data 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. Although the statistics provided are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for regions and states.

The data are from the 2006 Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic supplement, which is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide.