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 the United States, women holding a bachelor's degree earned, on average, 1,352 U.S. dollars per week in the second quarter of 2024. This can be compared with male bachelor's degree holders who on average earn 1,757 U.S dollars.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Self-Employment Income by Education: Less Than High School Graduate (CXUSFEMPINCLB1303M) from 1995 to 2012 about self-employed, no college, secondary schooling, secondary, tax, education, income, and USA.

The age groups available in the dataset are: 15+, 25+, 25-34, 25-54 and 25-64.

Type of work includes full-time and part-time.

The educational levels include: 0-8 yrs., some high school, high school graduate, some post-secondary, post-secondary certificate diploma and university degree.

Wages include average weekly wage rate.

The immigration statuses include: total landed immigrants (very recent immigrants, recent immigrants, established immigrants), non-landed immigrants and born in Canada.

Median individual earnings by educational attainment- median earnings in past 12 months- ACS 1 year estimates, 2009-2014, S1501

This data collection contains information gathered in the Survey of Income and Education (SIE) conducted in April-July 1976 by the Census Bureau for the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). Although national estimates of the number of children in poverty were available each year from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), those estimates were not statistically reliable on a state-by-state basis. In enacting the Educational Amendments of 1974, Congress mandated that HEW conduct a survey to obtain reliable state-by-state data on the numbers of school-age children in local areas with family incomes below the federal poverty level. This was the statistic that determined the amount of grant a local educational agency was entitled to under Title 1, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (Such funds were distributed by HEW's Office of Education.) The SIE was the survey created to fulfill that mandate. Its questions include those used in the Current Population Survey regarding current employment, past work experience, and income. Additional questions covering school enrollment, disability, health insurance, bilingualism, food stamp recipiency, assets, and housing costs enabled the study of the poverty concept and of program effectiveness in reaching target groups. Basic household information also was recorded, including tenure of unit (a determination of whether the occupants of the living quarters owned, rented, or occupied the unit without rent), type of unit, household language, and for each member of the household: age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital history, and education.

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.

Employment income (in 2019 and 2020) by highest certificate, diploma or degree, for census divisions and municipalities.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Highest Education: Less Than College Graduate: High School Graduate with Some College (CXU900000LB1405M) from 2012 to 2023 about no college, secondary schooling, secondary, salaries, tax, education, wages, income, and USA.

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

Employment income (in 2019 and 2020) by major field of study and highest certificate, diploma or degree, for cities. Includes five-year age groups, for the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP).

We estimate a dynamic model of schooling on two cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the effects of real (as opposed to relative) family income on education have practically vanished between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. After conditioning on a cognitive ability measure (AFQT), family background variables and unobserved heterogeneity (allowed to be correlated with observed characteristics), income effects vary substantially with age and have lost between 30% and 80% of their importance on age-specific grade progression probabilities. After conditioning on observed and unobserved characteristics, a $300,000 differential in family income generated more than 2 years of education in the early 1980s, but only 1 year in the early 2000s. Put differently, a $70,000 differential raised college participation by 10 percentage points in the early 1980s. In the early 2000s, a $330,000 income differential had the same impact. The effects of AFQT scores have lost about 50% of their magnitude but did not vanish. Over the same period, the relative importance of unobserved heterogeneity has expanded significantly, thereby pointing toward the emergence of a new form of educational selectivity reserving an increasing role to noncognitive abilities and/or preferences and a lesser role to cognitive ability and family income.

Income categorized by education level from 2011 to 2017. Data from ACS.

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.

California Educational Attainment and Personal Income as captured by the U.S. Census Current Population Survey (CPS)

Distribution of earners by highest certificate, diploma or degree and earnings/employment income. For the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP).

The purpose of this exchange is to provide DoED with aggregate earnings data that will be used to measure compliance of Institutions of Higher Education with the Gainful Employment (GE) regulations effective July 1, 2012. SSA uses existing Enumeration Verification System (EVS) and Earnings Coverage (EARN) software to verify the SSN and extract earnings data from the Master Earnings File (MEF). A back-end program computes the mean and median income for each GE program and earnings report year and provide DoED with an output file containing aggregate data. DoED uses SSA data to compute a debt to income ratio.

Characteristics and median employment income of postsecondary graduates five years after graduation, by educational qualification (Classification of programs and credentials - professional degree variant), field of study (Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Canada 2016 - STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics and computer sciences) and BHASE (business, humanities, health, arts, social science and education) groupings), gender, age group and status of student in Canada (cross-sectional analysis).

Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree was 142820.00000 U.S. $ in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree reached a record high of 142820.00000 in January of 2023 and a record low of 96790.00000 in January of 2013. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Highest Education: College Graduate: Master's, Professional, Doctoral Degree - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.