Census: Those with college degrees earn $26,000 more

Apr 27, 2009

Austin Business Journal

American workers with a bachelor's degree earned about $26,000 more on average in 2008 than those with only a high school diploma, a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows.

According to the report, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2008, About 29 percent of adults 25 and older had a bachelor's degree in 2008 and 87 percent had completed high school. That's up from 24 percent of adults who had a bachelor’s degree, and 83 percent who had completed high school in 1998.

In 2008, 29.4 million women and 28.4 million men 25 and older had a bachelor's degree or higher. Women had a larger share of high school diplomas, as well as associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. More men than women had a professional or doctoral degree.

Other highlights from this year's report include:

Workers with a high school degree earned an average of $31,286 in 2007, while those with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $57,181;

The race and Hispanic origin data show that 53 percent of Asians in the U.S. had a bachelor's degree or more education. For non-Hispanic whites, it was 33 percent; for blacks; it was 20 percent; and for Hispanics, it was 13 percent;

Among younger adults (age 25-29), 88 percent had completed high school, and 31 percent had completed college. Among adults 75 and over, 73 percent had completed high school and 17 percent had completed college.

The findings in the report are from data collected as part of the Census' annual Social and Economic Supplement, which was conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide.