In 2022, about 37.7 percent of the U.S. population who were aged 25 and above had graduated from college or another higher education institution, a slight decline from 37.9 the previous year. However, this is a significant increase from 1960, when only 7.7 percent of the U.S. population had graduated from college. Demographics Educational attainment varies by gender, location, race, and age throughout the United States. Asian-American and Pacific Islanders had the highest level of education, on average, while Massachusetts and the District of Colombia are areas home to the highest rates of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, education levels are correlated with wealth. While public education is free up until the 12th grade, the cost of university is out of reach for many Americans, making social mobility increasingly difficult. Earnings White Americans with a professional degree earned the most money on average, compared to other educational levels and races. However, regardless of educational attainment, males typically earned far more on average compared to females. Despite the decreasing wage gap over the years in the country, it remains an issue to this day. Not only is there a large wage gap between males and females, but there is also a large income gap linked to race as well.

In 2021, about ** percent of the United States population aged 25 to 34 years had attained a bachelor's degree or higher. In comparison, only ** percent of the U.S. population aged 65 years or older had a bachelor's degree.

In an impressive increase from years past, 39 percent of women in the United States had completed four years or more of college in 2022. This figure is up from 3.8 percent of women in 1940. A significant increase can also be seen in males, with 36.2 percent of the U.S. male population having completed four years or more of college in 2022, up from 5.5 percent in 1940.

4- and 2-year colleges

In the United States, college students are able to choose between attending a 2-year postsecondary program and a 4-year postsecondary program. Generally, attending a 2-year program results in an Associate’s Degree, and 4-year programs result in a Bachelor’s Degree.

Many 2-year programs are designed so that attendees can transfer to a college or university offering a 4-year program upon completing their Associate’s. Completion of a 4-year program is the generally accepted standard for entry-level positions when looking for a job.

Earnings after college

Factors such as gender, degree achieved, and the level of postsecondary education can have an impact on employment and earnings later in life. Some Bachelor’s degrees continue to attract more male students than female, particularly in STEM fields, while liberal arts degrees such as education, languages and literatures, and communication tend to see higher female attendance.

All of these factors have an impact on earnings after college, and despite nearly the same rate of attendance within the American population between males and females, men with a Bachelor’s Degree continue to have higher weekly earnings on average than their female counterparts.

This graph shows the educational attainment of the U.S. population from in 2018, according to ethnicity. Around 56.5 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. have graduated from college or obtained a higher educational degree in 2018.

In 2023, about **** percent of the population of Texas aged 25 and over held a Bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. Furthermore, about 24.2percent of Texans had a high school diploma or equivalency as their highest level of education.

In 2023, the vast majority of active duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel did not have a college degree. In that year, there were 822,729 United States Armed Forces personnel who had at least earned a high school diploma but did not have a Bachelor's degree.

In 2023 the mean earnings of Bachelor's degree holders in the United States amounted to 86,970 U.S. dollars. People with higher education degrees tended to earn more than those without. For example, high school graduates, including those with a GED, had mean earnings of 46,720 U.S. dollars.

U.S. citizens with a professional degree had the highest median household income in 2023, at 172,100 U.S. dollars. In comparison, those with less than a 9th grade education made significantly less money, at 35,690 U.S. dollars. Household income The median household income in the United States has fluctuated since 1990, but rose to around 70,000 U.S. dollars in 2021. Maryland had the highest median household income in the United States in 2021. Maryland’s high levels of wealth is due to several reasons, and includes the state's proximity to the nation's capital. Household income and ethnicity The median income of white non-Hispanic households in the United States had been on the rise since 1990, but declining since 2019. While income has also been on the rise, the median income of Hispanic households was much lower than those of white, non-Hispanic private households. However, the median income of Black households is even lower than Hispanic households. Income inequality is a problem without an easy solution in the United States, especially since ethnicity is a contributing factor. Systemic racism contributes to the non-White population suffering from income inequality, which causes the opportunity for growth to stagnate.

In 2023, about **** percent of the population in Florida aged 25 years and over held a Bachelor's degree. In that same year, about *** percent of Floridians had less than a 9th grade education, and about **** percent were high school graduates.

In 2023, about ** percent of the population of Pennsylvania aged 25 and over held a Bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. Furthermore, about **** percent of Pennsylvanians had a high school diploma or equivalency as their highest level of education.

In 2023, the mean income of Black Bachelor's degree holders was ****** U.S. dollars, compared to ****** U.S. dollars for White Americans with a Bachelor's degree.

In 2023, the mean income of women with a doctorate degree in the United States stood at 139,100 U.S. dollars. For men with the same degree, mean earnings stood at 175,500 U.S. dollars. On average in 2023, American men earned 91,590 U.S. dollars, while American women earned 65,987 U.S. dollars.

In 2023, about 24.3 percent of the population of Washington aged 25 and above held a Bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. Furthermore, about 20.5 percent of people in the state had some college, but no degree as their highest level of education.

In 2023, about 19.3 percent of the population of Ohio aged 25 and over held a Bachelor's degree as their highest level of education. Furthermore, about 31.8 percent of people had a high school degree or equivalency as their highest level of education in that year.

As of September 2023, ****** was the platform in the United States that most attracted social media users with bachelor's degrees and master's degrees. Overall, ** percent of TikTok users had a high school degree, as did ** percent of Snapchat users. Image-based ********* was the platform most used by respondents with technical and vocational education.

This graph shows the average full-time weekly wage for those aged 25 and over, as distinguished by educational attainment level in the United States from 2005 to 2009. In 2009, those with a bachelor's degree or higher earned an average weekly wage of 1,137 U.S. dollars.

In 2023, about 22.8 percent of the population of Illinois aged 25 and over held a Bachelor's degree. Furthermore, about 25.3 percent of people in the state had a high school diploma (or equivalency) as their highest educational attainment.

In 2023, about **** percent of Californian residents aged over 25 years held a Bachelor's degree. In the academic year of 2020-2021, California had the highest number of higher education institutions of any U.S. state, with *** such institutions. In this regard, California was followed by New York and Texas with *** and *** higher education institutions, respectively.

In early 2021, a survey found that 59 percent of adults in the United States with high school education or less had read or listened to a book in the last year. By contrast, almost 90 percent of adults who had graduated college or pursued further education after college had engaged with a print, e-book, or audiobook in the 12 months leading to the survey.

In 2023, about four percent of the people with a Bachelor's degree or higher were living below the poverty line in the United States. This is far below the poverty rate of those without a high school diploma, which was 25.1 percent in 2023.