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Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 106. Percentage of high school dropouts among persons 16 through 24 years old (status dropout rate), by income level, and percentage distribution of status dropouts, by labor force status and educational attainment: 1970 through 2006
Year Status
dropout rate
Status dropout rate, by family income quartile Percentage distribution of status dropouts, by labor force status Percentage distribution of status dropouts, by years of school completed
Lowest quartile Middle
low quartile
Middle
high quartile
Highest quartile Total Employed1 Unemployed Not in
labor force
Total Less than
9 years
9 years 10 years 11 or 12 years
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1970 15.0 (0.29) 28.0 (0.92) 21.2 (0.65) 11.7 (0.50) 5.2 (0.34) 100.0 (†) 49.8 (1.06) 10.3 (0.65) 39.9 (1.04) 100.0 (†) 28.5 (0.96) 20.6 (0.86) 26.8 (0.94) 24.0 (0.91)
1971 14.7 (0.28) 28.8 (0.90) 20.7 (0.63) 10.9 (0.49) 5.1 (0.32) 100.0 (†) 49.5 (1.05) 10.9 (0.65) 39.6 (1.02) 100.0 (†) 27.9 (0.94) 21.7 (0.86) 27.8 (0.94) 22.7 (0.88)
1972 14.6 (0.28) 27.6 (0.85) 20.8 (0.62) 10.2 (0.46) 5.4 (0.33) 100.0 (†) 51.2 (1.03) 10.2 (0.63) 38.6 (1.01) 100.0 (†) 27.5 (0.92) 20.8 (0.84) 29.0 (0.94) 22.7 (0.87)
1973 14.1 (0.27) 28.0 (0.85) 19.6 (0.60) 9.9 (0.45) 4.9 (0.31) 100.0 (†) 53.2 (1.04) 9.2 (0.60) 37.5 (1.01) 100.0 (†) 26.5 (0.92) 20.9 (0.84) 27.4 (0.93) 25.3 (0.90)
1974 14.3 (0.27) (†) (†) (†) (†) 100.0 (†) 51.8 (1.02) 12.3 (0.67) 35.9 (0.98) 100.0 (†) 25.4 (0.89) 20.1 (0.82) 28.7 (0.93) 25.8 (0.90)
                                                         
1975 13.9 (0.27) 28.8 (0.82) 18.0 (0.58) 10.2 (0.45) 5.0 (0.30) 100.0 (†) 46.0 (1.02) 15.6 (0.74) 38.4 (1.00) 100.0 (†) 23.5 (0.87) 21.1 (0.84) 27.5 (0.92) 27.9 (0.92)
1976 14.1 (0.27) 28.1 (0.79) 19.2 (0.60) 10.1 (0.45) 4.9 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 48.8 (1.01) 16.0 (0.74) 35.2 (0.97) 100.0 (†) 24.3 (0.87) 20.1 (0.81) 27.8 (0.91) 27.8 (0.91)
1977 14.1 (0.27) 28.5 (0.80) 19.0 (0.60) 10.4 (0.46) 4.5 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 52.9 (1.02) 13.6 (0.70) 33.6 (0.96) 100.0 (†) 24.3 (0.87) 21.7 (0.84) 27.3 (0.91) 26.6 (0.90)
1978 14.2 (0.27) 28.2 (0.80) 18.9 (0.60) 10.5 (0.46) 5.5 (0.31) 100.0 (†) 54.3 (1.01) 12.4 (0.67) 33.3 (0.95) 100.0 (†) 22.9 (0.85) 20.2 (0.81) 28.2 (0.91) 28.8 (0.91)
1979 14.6 (0.27) 28.1 (0.79) 18.5 (0.60) 11.5 (0.47) 5.6 (0.32) 100.0 (†) 54.0 (0.99) 12.7 (0.66) 33.3 (0.94) 100.0 (†) 22.6 (0.83) 21.0 (0.81) 28.6 (0.90) 27.8 (0.89)
                                                         
1980 14.1 (0.26) 27.0 (0.77) 18.1 (0.60) 10.7 (0.46) 5.7 (0.32) 100.0 (†) 50.4 (1.01) 17.0 (0.76) 32.6 (0.95) 100.0 (†) 23.6 (0.86) 19.7 (0.80) 29.8 (0.93) 27.0 (0.90)
1981 13.9 (0.26) 26.4 (0.75) 17.8 (0.57) 11.1 (0.47) 5.2 (0.30) 100.0 (†) 49.8 (1.01) 18.3 (0.78) 31.9 (0.94) 100.0 (†) 24.3 (0.86) 18.6 (0.78) 30.2 (0.92) 26.9 (0.89)
1982 13.9 (0.27) 27.2 (0.78) 18.3 (0.63) 10.2 (0.48) 4.4 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 45.2 (1.06) 21.1 (0.87) 33.7 (1.01) 100.0 (†) 22.9 (0.90) 20.8 (0.87) 28.8 (0.96) 27.6 (0.95)
1983 13.7 (0.27) 26.5 (0.77) 17.8 (0.62) 10.5 (0.50) 4.1 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 48.4 (1.08) 18.2 (0.83) 33.4 (1.02) 100.0 (†) 23.0 (0.91) 19.3 (0.85) 28.8 (0.98) 28.8 (0.98)
1984 13.1 (0.27) 25.9 (0.76) 16.5 (0.61) 9.9 (0.48) 3.8 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 49.7 (1.11) 17.3 (0.84) 32.9 (1.05) 100.0 (†) 23.6 (0.95) 21.4 (0.91) 27.5 (1.00) 27.5 (0.99)
                                                         
1985 12.6 (0.27) 27.1 (0.78) 14.7 (0.60) 8.3 (0.46) 4.0 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 50.1 (1.15) 17.5 (0.88) 32.4 (1.08) 100.0 (†) 23.9 (0.98) 21.0 (0.94) 27.9 (1.03) 27.2 (1.03)
1986 12.2 (0.27) 25.4 (0.75) 14.8 (0.60) 8.0 (0.45) 3.4 (0.28) 100.0 (†) 51.1 (1.18) 16.4 (0.87) 32.5 (1.10) 100.0 (†) 25.4 (1.03) 21.5 (0.97) 25.7 (1.03) 27.4 (1.05)
1987 12.6 (0.28) 25.5 (0.76) 16.6 (0.63) 8.0 (0.46) 3.6 (0.28) 100.0 (†) 52.4 (1.16) 13.6 (0.80) 34.0 (1.10) 100.0 (†) 25.9 (1.02) 20.7 (0.94) 26.0 (1.02) 27.5 (1.04)
1988 12.9 (0.30) 27.2 (0.85) 15.4 (0.68) 8.2 (0.51) 3.4 (0.30) 100.0 (†) 52.9 (1.27) (†) (†) 100.0 (†) 28.9 (1.15) 19.3 (1.00) 25.1 (1.10) 26.8 (1.12)
1989 12.6 (0.31) 25.0 (0.84) 16.2 (0.71) 8.7 (0.52) 3.3 (0.31) 100.0 (†) 53.2 (1.30) 13.8 (0.90) 33.0 (1.22) 100.0 (†) 29.4 (1.18) 20.8 (1.05) 24.9 (1.12) 25.0 (1.13)
                                                         
1990 12.1 (0.29) 24.3 (0.82) 15.1 (0.65) 8.7 (0.51) 2.9 (0.28) 100.0 (†) 52.5 (1.29) 13.3 (0.88) 34.2 (1.23) 100.0 (†) 28.6 (1.17) 20.9 (1.05) 24.4 (1.11) 26.1 (1.14)
1991 12.5 (0.30) 25.9 (0.83) 15.5 (0.66) 7.7 (0.49) 3.0 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 47.5 (1.28) 15.8 (0.93) 36.7 (1.23) 100.0 (†) 28.6 (1.15) 20.5 (1.03) 26.1 (1.12) 24.9 (1.10)
19922  11.0 (0.28) 23.4 (0.79) 12.9 (0.62) 7.3 (0.48) 2.4 (0.26) 100.0 (†) 47.6 (1.36) 15.0 (0.97) 37.4 (1.32) 100.0 (†) 21.6 (1.12) 17.5 (1.04) 24.4 (1.17) 36.5 (1.31)
19932  11.0 (0.28) 22.9 (0.77) 12.7 (0.62) 6.6 (0.46) 2.9 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 48.7 (1.37) 12.8 (0.91) 38.5 (1.33) 100.0 (†) 20.5 (1.10) 16.6 (1.02) 24.1 (1.17) 38.8 (1.33)
19942  11.4 (0.26) 20.7 (0.71) 13.7 (0.58) 8.7 (0.45) 4.9 (0.33) 100.0 (†) 49.5 (1.21) 13.0 (0.81) 37.5 (1.17) 100.0 (†) 23.9 (1.03) 16.2 (0.89) 20.3 (0.97) 39.6 (1.18)
                                                         
19952  12.0 (0.27) 23.2 (0.69) 13.8 (0.59) 8.3 (0.46) 3.6 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 48.9 (1.19) 14.2 (0.83) 37.0 (1.14) 100.0 (†) 22.2 (0.99) 17.0 (0.89) 22.5 (0.99) 38.3 (1.15)
19962  11.1 (0.27) 22.0 (0.72) 13.6 (0.60) 7.0 (0.45) 3.2 (0.28) 100.0 (†) 47.3 (1.28) 15.0 (0.91) 37.7 (1.24) 100.0 (†) 20.3 (1.03) 17.7 (0.98) 22.6 (1.07) 39.4 (1.25)
19972  11.0 (0.27) 21.8 (0.71) 13.5 (0.59) 6.2 (0.42) 3.4 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 53.3 (1.28) 13.2 (0.86) 33.5 (1.21) 100.0 (†) 19.9 (1.02) 15.7 (0.93) 22.3 (1.06) 42.1 (1.26)
19982  11.8 (0.27) 22.3 (0.71) 14.9 (0.62) 7.7 (0.45) 3.5 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 55.1 (1.22) 10.3 (0.74) 34.6 (1.17) 100.0 (†) 21.0 (1.00) 14.9 (0.87) 21.4 (1.01) 42.6 (1.21)
19992  11.2 (0.26) 21.0 (0.70) 14.3 (0.60) 7.4 (0.44) 3.9 (0.30) 100.0 (†) 55.6 (1.24) 10.0 (0.75) 34.4 (1.18) 100.0 (†) 22.2 (1.03) 16.3 (0.92) 22.5 (1.04) 39.0 (1.21)
                                                         
20002  10.9 (0.26) 20.7 (0.70) 12.8 (0.56) 8.3 (0.46) 3.5 (0.29) 100.0 (†) 56.9 (1.24) 12.3 (0.82) 30.8 (1.16) 100.0 (†) 21.5 (1.03) 15.3 (0.90) 23.1 (1.06) 40.0 (1.23)
20012  10.7 (0.25) 19.3 (0.68) 13.4 (0.57) 9.0 (0.47) 3.2 (0.27) 100.0 (†) 58.3 (1.24) 14.8 (0.89) 26.9 (1.11) 100.0 (†) 18.4 (0.97) 16.8 (0.94) 23.8 (1.07) 40.9 (1.23)
20022  10.5 (0.24) 18.8 (0.62) 12.3 (0.53) 8.4 (0.43) 3.8 (0.28) 100.0 (†) 57.4 (1.18) 13.3 (0.81) 29.2 (1.09) 100.0 (†) 22.8 (1.00) 17.1 (0.90) 21.3 (0.98) 38.9 (1.17)
20032  9.9 (0.23) 19.5 (0.64) 10.8 (0.49) 7.3 (0.40) 3.4 (0.26) 100.0 (†) 53.5 (1.22) 13.7 (0.84) 32.9 (1.15) 100.0 (†) 21.2 (1.00) 18.2 (0.94) 20.7 (0.99) 40.0 (1.20)
20042  10.3 (0.23) 18.0 (0.60) 12.7 (0.52) 8.2 (0.42) 3.7 (0.27) 100.0 (†) 53.0 (1.19) 14.3 (0.83) 32.7 (1.12) 100.0 (†) 21.4 (0.97) 15.9 (0.87) 22.5 (0.99) 40.3 (1.17)
                                                         
20052  9.4 (0.22) 17.9 (0.60) 11.5 (0.51) 7.1 (0.39) 2.7 (0.23) 100.0 (†) 56.9 (1.23) 11.9 (0.80) 31.2 (1.15) 100.0 (†) 18.9 (0.97) 16.8 (0.93) 21.4 (1.02) 42.9 (1.23)
20062  9.3 (0.22) 16.5 (0.58) 12.1 (0.51) 6.3 (0.37) 3.8 (0.27) 100.0 (†) 56.4 (1.23) 11.7 (0.80) 32.0 (1.16) 100.0 (†) 22.1 (1.03) 13.4 (0.85) 20.7 (1.01) 43.9 (1.23)
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Includes persons employed, but not currently working.
2 Because of changes in data collection procedures, data may not be comparable with figures for years prior to 1992.
NOTE: "Status" dropouts are 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and who have not completed a high school program, regardless of when they left school. People who have received GED credentials are counted as high school completers. Data are based on sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons in prisons, persons in the military, and other persons not living in households. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October 1970 through October 2006. (This table was prepared August 2007.)

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest