See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the average earnings by student group per district.  Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please visit the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard.

This dataset is one of three containing the same data that is also published in the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

2025 Update on DESE Data on Employment and Earnings 

The data link between high school graduates and future earnings makes it possible to follow students beyond high school and college into the workforce, enabling long-term evaluation of educational programs using workforce outcomes.

While DESE has published these data in the past, as of June 2025 we are temporarily pausing updates due to an issue conducting the link that was brought to our attention in 2023 by a team of researchers. The issue impacts the earnings information for students who never attended a postsecondary institution or who only attended private or out-of-state colleges or universities, beginning with the 2017 high school graduation cohort, with growing impact in each successive high school graduation cohort.

The issue does not impact the earnings information for students who attended a Massachusetts public institution of higher education, and earnings data for those students will continue to be updated.

Once a solution is found, the past cohorts of data with low match rates will be updated. DESE and partner agencies are exploring linking strategies to maximize the utility of the information.

More detailed information can be found in the attached memo provided by the research team from the Annenberg Institute. We thank them for calling this issue to our attention.

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 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.

See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the number of graduates who enrolled in each type of postsecondary education per district.

Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please visit the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard.

This dataset is one of three containing the same data that is also published in the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

List of Outcomes

• Total Postsecondary Enrollment
• In-State Public 2-Year
• In-State Public 4-Year
• In-State Private
• Out-of-State
• Total Employed
• Total Missing

The data link between high school graduates and future earnings makes it possible to follow students beyond high school and college into the workforce, enabling long-term evaluation of educational programs using workforce outcomes.

While DESE has published these data in the past, as of June 2025 we are temporarily pausing updates due to an issue conducting the link that was brought to our attention in 2023 by a team of researchers. The issue impacts the earnings information for students who never attended a postsecondary institution or who only attended private or out-of-state colleges or universities, beginning with the 2017 high school graduation cohort, with growing impact in each successive high school graduation cohort.

The issue does not impact the earnings information for students who attended a Massachusetts public institution of higher education, and earnings data for those students will continue to be updated.

Once a solution is found, the past cohorts of data with low match rates will be updated. DESE and partner agencies are exploring linking strategies to maximize the utility of the information.

More detailed information can be found in the attached memo provided by the research team from the Annenberg Institute. We thank them for calling this issue to our attention.

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.

See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the average annual earnings by industry per district.

Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please visit the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard.

This dataset is one of three containing the same data that is also published in the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

List of Industries

• 00 - All Students
• 11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
• 21 - Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
• 22 - Utilities
• 23 - Construction
• 31 - Manufacturing
• 42 - Wholesale Trade
• 44 - Retail Trade
• 48 - Transportation and Warehousing
• 51 - Information
• 52 - Finance and Insurance
• 53 - Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
• 54 - Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• 55 - Management of Companies and Enterprises
• 56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
• 61 - Educational Services
• 62 - Health Care and Social Assistance
• 71 - Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
• 72 - Accommodation and Food Services
• 81 - Other Services (except Public Administration)
• 92 - Public Administration
• 0 - No Industry Reported

The data link between high school graduates and future earnings makes it possible to follow students beyond high school and college into the workforce, enabling long-term evaluation of educational programs using workforce outcomes.

While DESE has published these data in the past, as of June 2025 we are temporarily pausing updates due to an issue conducting the link that was brought to our attention in 2023 by a team of researchers. The issue impacts the earnings information for students who never attended a postsecondary institution or who only attended private or out-of-state colleges or universities, beginning with the 2017 high school graduation cohort, with growing impact in each successive high school graduation cohort.

The issue does not impact the earnings information for students who attended a Massachusetts public institution of higher education, and earnings data for those students will continue to be updated.

Once a solution is found, the past cohorts of data with low match rates will be updated. DESE and partner agencies are exploring linking strategies to maximize the utility of the information.

More detailed information can be found in the attached memo provided by the research team from the Annenberg Institute. We thank them for calling this issue to our attention.

What are the median earnings of high school graduates in the years following high school graduation in each industry group (6 Digit NAICS)?

This dashboard displays longitudinal wage outcomes of Massachusetts students by district, including College and Career Outcomes, Average Annual Earnings by Student Group, and Average Annual Earnings by Industry.

Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please refer to the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard itself.

The data in the dashboard is also published across three datasets in the E2C Hub: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

The Recent College Graduates (RCG) survey estimates the potential supply of newly qualified teachers in the United States and explores the immediate post-degree employment and education experiences of individuals obtaining bachelor's or master's degrees from American colleges and universities. The RCG survey, which focuses heavily, but not exclusively, on those graduates qualified to teach at the elementary and secondary levels, is designed to meet the following objectives: (1) to determine how many graduates become eligible or qualified to teach for the first time and how many are employed as teachers in the year following graduation, by teaching field, (2) to examine the relationships among courses taken, student achievement, and occupational outcomes, and (3) to monitor unemployment rates and average salaries of graduates by field of study. The RCG survey collects information on education and employment of all graduates (date of graduation, field of study, whether newly qualified to teach, further enrollment, financial aid, employment status, and teacher employment characteristics) as well as standard demographic characteristics such as earnings, age, marital status, sex, and race/ethnicity.

The American Institutes for Research conducted a multisite randomized study that tested an online learning model for credit recovery at 24 high schools in Los Angeles, California in 2018 and 2019. The study focused on first-year high school students who failed Algebra 1 or English 9 (their ninth-grade English course) and retook the course during the summer before their second year of high school. Within each participating school, we used a lottery to determine whether each student was placed in either the school’s typical teacher-directed class (business-as-usual control condition) or a class that used an online learning model (treatment condition). For the online learning model, an online provider supplied the main course content, and the school provided a subject-appropriate, credentialed in-class teacher who could supplement the digital content with additional instruction.The study compared outcomes of students assigned to the treatment condition to outcomes of students assigned to the control condition. Analyses focused both on proximal outcomes (ex: student course experiences, content knowledge, and credit recovery rates) and distal outcomes (ex: on-time graduation and cumulative credits earned by the end of the 4th year of high school). We estimated average treatment effects for the intent-to-treat sample using regression models that control for student characteristics and randomization blocks. We conducted separate analyses for students who failed Algebra 1 and students who failed at least one semester of their English 9 course.This ICPSR data deposit includes our final analytical dataset and three supplemental files. Data come from three sources: (1) extant district data on student information and academic outcomes, (2) end-of-course surveys of students’ and teachers’ experiences, and (3) end-of-course test of students’ content knowledge. Data fields include:Sample information: term, school (anonymized), teacher (anonymized), course, randomization block, student cohort, treatment statusDemographics: sex, race/ethnicity, National School Lunch Program status, inclusion in the Gifted/Talented program, Special Education status, and English language learner statusPre-treatment information (treatment group only): 9th grade GPA, 9th grade attendance rate, number of 9th grade courses failed, 8th grade test scoresOnline course engagement information: percentage of online course completed, average score on online activities, minutes spent in online platformStudent survey data: responses a survey administered at the end of the course for treatment and control students. Questions cover degree of student engagement with the course, perceptions of teacher support and course difficulty, and clarity of course expectations.End-of-course test data: answers and scores on an end-of-course assessment administered to treatment and control students to evaluate content knowledge (Algebra 1 or English 9). The test did not count towards the final course grade and included 17-20 multiple choice questions.Academic outcomes: grade in credit recovery course, credits attempted/earned in each year of high school, GPA in each year of high school, credits/GPA in math and ELA in each year of high school, indicator for on-time high school graduation, 10th grade PSAT scoresTeacher survey and logs: teacher-reported logs on the use of different instructional activities and responses to surveys about course pacing, content, goals, and degree of student support

As of the 2023/24 academic year, graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a starting salary of 110,200 U.S. dollars, and a mid-career salary of 196,900 U.S. dollars. Top universities in the United States One of the top universities in the United States, Harvey Mudd College, is located in Claremont, California. Not only do graduates earn a high salaries after graduation, they also pay the most. In the academic year of 2020-2021, Harvey Mudd College was one of the most expensive school by total annual cost. The best university in the United States in 2021 belonged to the University of California, Berkeley. The Ivy League The Ivy League is a group of eight private universities in the Northeastern United States. It is not only a collegiate athletic conference, but also a group of highly respected academic institutions. They are usually regarded as the best eight universities in the United States and the world. They are extremely selective with their admissions process. However, these universities are extremely expensive to attend. Despite the high price tag, students who graduate from Princeton University have the highest early career salary out of all Ivy League attendees in 2021. This is compared to the overall expected starting salaries of recent college graduates across the United States, which was less than 35,000 U.S. dollars.

These data contain statistics of New York school districts. Included are enrollment data (including percentages by race), attendance rate, graduation rate, dropout rate, percent that continue to college, percent that receive a regents diploma, average classroom size, pupil/teacher ratio, median salary, students classified as having disabilities, expenditures by category, pupil evaluations, programs evaluation tests, regents exams data, and results of second language proficiency exams.

Average earnings, by age group and highest level of education, from the 2016 Census of Population.

This study uses quantitative and qualitative research to fill a gap in the scholarly literature on "what works" in school discipline, climate, and safety and has important implications for educators and justice policymakers nationwide. The quantitative analysis utilized data from 2010-2015 of middle and high school students (N=87,471 students nested within 804 schools and 74 neighborhoods) in New York City. Researchers applied hierarchical modeling methods to analyze effects of neighborhood, school, and student characteristics on: 1) future school disciplinary outcomes; 2) future arrest; and 3) grade advancement. Demographic variables for individual participants include race, gender, and if they are an English language learner. Demographic variables for neighborhoods include race, median income, crime rates, and education levels.

2006/07 Progress Report results for all schools (data as of 1/14/09) Peer indices are calculated differently depending on School Level. Schools are only compared to other schools in the same School Level (e.g., Elementary, K-8, Middle, High) 1) Elementary & K-8 - peer index is a value from 0-100. We use a composite demographic statistic based on % ELL, % SpEd, % Title I free lunch, and % Black/Hispanic. Higher values indicate student populations with higher need 2) Middle & High - peer index is a value from 1.00-4.50. For middle schools, we use the average 4th grade proficiency ratings in ELA and Math for all their students that have 4th grade test scores. For high schools, we use the average 8th grade proficiency ratings in ELA and Math for all their students that have 8th grade test scores. Lower values indicate student populations with higher need 3) D84 / Charter Schools - the overall score does not include the results of the learning environment survey. 4) Schools for Transfer Students - consists of schools with large populations of high school students transferring from NYC High Schools or from out of state/country. No peer index value is assigned because this set of schools is its own peer group. The reports contain 3 categories with one additional credit section. Unlike the HS Progress Report, the Environment Category is only composed of Survey Results. Performance measures 6-year graduation rate and Progress captures student level improvements in attendance, credit accumulation and Regents passed. The additional credit section rewards schools demonstrating exceptional achievement (11 credits or more earned per year) among overage/under-credit populations.

As of 2023, the mean weekly earnings of employees in Australia with a postgraduate degree were roughly 1,893 Australian dollars. Comparatively, the mean weekly earnings of people without non-school qualifications were less than 1000 Australian dollars.

Notes: The dependent variable “Attending higher-achieving school” is defined as having an above median three year school average CITO score. The omitted education categories are “Education level mother low” and “Education level father low”. The omitted monthly household income category is “Income below €1,500”. Standard errors are in parentheses;*** p

Refers only to the location municipal perspective of independent schools’ results. Prior to 2022, both graduated students and those who hold a certificate of 2,500 credits, 2022 and after, only those with a degree were included. The task is based on a regression model developed by Statistics Sweden and SKR to take into account the different socio-economic conditions of different municipalities. The explanatory variables include the level of education of the parents, the parents’ income, gender and the need for financial assistance. Municipalities whose assignments are based on fewer than 30 students have been subject to confidentiality. For more information, see the report Open Comparisons – Upper Secondary School. In 2019, no data will be published due to changes in the confidentiality rules of Statistics Sweden.

Notes: All test scores are standardized to mean zero and a standard deviation of one. A higher-achieving school is defined as having an above median three year school average CITO score. Parental background controls are the household income and the education level of the father and mother. Neighborhood controls include a set of variables measured at the four digit postal code area. The neighborhood controls are the percentage of households under the social minimum income, the percentage of households with low income (less than €25,100 per year), the percentage of households with high income (more than €46,500 per year) and the percentage of households with at least one child. The data on neighborhood characteristics was collected by CBS Statistics Netherlands. S3 Table shows the full model and reports the coefficients and standard errors for all included controls. Standard errors are in parentheses;*** p