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Economic Outcomes
Table A-17-1. Median annual earnings of full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 25–34, by educational attainment, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1980–2007

[In constant 2007 dollars]
Educational attainment, sex,
and race/ethnicity1		 1980 1985 1990   1995   2000   2005 2007
Total2 $38,000 $38,000 $36,000   $34,000   $36,000   $36,000 $36,000
Less than high school 30,000 27,000 25,000   22,000   24,000   23,000 23,000
High school diploma or equivalent 35,000 33,000 31,000   28,000   30,000   30,000 29,000
Some college3 38,000 39,000 36,000   32,000   34,000   33,000 33,000
Associate’s degree — — —   34,000   36,000   36,000 35,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 45,000 48,000 46,000   45,000   48,000   47,000 48,000
Bachelor’s degree — — —   42,000   47,000   43,000 45,000
Master’s degree or higher — — —   54,000   54,000   53,000 56,000
                     
Sex and educational attainment                    
Male 45,000 42,000 40,000   37,000   41,000   37,000 39,000
Less than high school 33,000 29,000 27,000   26,000   25,000   26,000 25,000
High school diploma or equivalent 43,000 39,000 35,000   33,000   35,000   32,000 31,000
Some college3 45,000 44,000 40,000   35,000   40,000   37,000 37,000
Associate’s degree — — —   35,000   45,000   41,000 40,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 50,000 53,000 50,000   51,000   55,000   53,000 52,000
Bachelor’s degree — — —   48,000   54,000   48,000 50,000
Master’s degree or higher — — —   60,000   64,000   58,000 62,000
                     
Female 30,000 31,000 31,000   30,000   33,000   32,000 33,000
Less than high school 21,000 21,000 20,000   18,000   20,000   19,000 19,000
High school diploma or equivalent 28,000 27,000 25,000   24,000   25,000   25,000 24,000
Some college3 30,000 31,000 32,000   27,000   29,000   30,000 30,000
Associate’s degree — — —   33,000   31,000   32,000 31,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 37,000 40,000 41,000   41,000   43,000   42,000 43,000
Bachelor’s degree — — —   38,000   42,000   40,000 40,000
Master’s degree or higher — — —   48,000   48,000   50,000 51,000
                     
Race/ethnicity1 and educational attainment                    
White 39,000 39,000 38,000   35,000   39,000   37,000 40,000
Less than high school 32,000 29,000 27,000   24,000   24,000   24,000 25,000
High school diploma or equivalent 36,000 35,000 32,000   30,000   33,000   32,000 30,000
Some college3 40,000 39,000 38,000   33,000   36,000   34,000 35,000
Associate’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   35,000   39,000   37,000 37,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 45,000 48,000 48,000   46,000   48,000   48,000 48,000
Bachelor’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   44,000   48,000   44,000 45,000
Master’s degree or higher ‡ ‡ ‡   54,000   54,000   53,000 55,000
                     
Black 30,000 29,000 29,000   29,000   31,000   31,000 30,000
Less than high school 22,000 19,000 20,000   19,000   23,000   22,000 20,000
High school diploma or equivalent 30,000 27,000 25,000   24,000   25,000   24,000 26,000
Some college3 33,000 29,000 31,000   30,000   31,000   31,000 30,000
Associate’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   30,000   30,000   30,000 30,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 38,000 39,000 40,000   37,000   42,000   41,000 40,000
Bachelor’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   35,000   40,000   38,000 39,000
Master’s degree or higher ‡ ‡ ‡   46,000   52,000   47,000 45,000
                     
Hispanic 34,000 31,000 29,000   27,000   30,000   29,000 30,000
Less than high school 30,000 25,000 22,000   21,000   22,000   22,000 22,000
High school diploma or equivalent 30,000 29,000 27,000   26,000   28,000   25,000 26,000
Some college3 38,000 37,000 32,000   27,000   33,000   34,000 31,000
Associate’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   33,000   36,000   36,000 30,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher 41,000 46,000 43,000   41,000   46,000   44,000 44,000
Bachelor’s degree ‡ ‡ ‡   39,000   43,000   42,000 40,000
Master’s degree or higher ‡ ‡ ‡   ‡   ‡   54,000 58,000
                     
Asian — — 37,000 4 35,000 4 43,000 4 42,000 45,000
Less than high school — — ‡ 4 ‡ 4 ‡ 4 ‡ ‡
High school diploma or equivalent — — 26,000 4 27,000 4 30,000 4 29,000 28,000
Some college3 — — 32,000 4 25,000 4 34,000 4 32,000 35,000
Associate’s degree — — ‡ 4 27,000 4 36,000 4 37,000 36,000
Bachelor’s degree or higher — — 48,000 4 45,000 4 60,000 4 53,000 55,000
Bachelor’s degree — — ‡ 4 42,000 4 59,000 4 53,000 50,000
Master’s degree or higher — — ‡ 4 52,000 4 64,000 4 58,000 65,000
                     
Pacific Islander — — (4)   (4)   (4)   ‡ $35,000
American Indian/Alaska Native — — 32,000   27,000   29,000   32,000 31,000
More than one race — — —   —   —   37,000 33,000
— Not available.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
1 Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Estimates for educational categories for Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and More than one race subgroups did not meet reporting standards. For more information on race/ethnicity, seesupplemental note 1.
2 Totals for 1980 and 1985 include other racial/ethnic groups not shown.
3 Due to changes in categories across time, the category “some college” prior to 1992 is not comparable with "some college" from 1992 onward. Prior to 1992, “some college” may have included students who earned an associate’s degree.
4 From 1989 through 2002, data for Asians and Pacific Islanders were not reported separately; therefore, Pacific Islanders are included with Asians during this period.
NOTE: Earnings are presented in constant dollars by means of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to eliminate inflationary factors and allow for direct comparison across years. For more information on the CPI, see supplemental note 10. Full-year worker refers to those who were employed 50 or more weeks during the previous year; full-time worker refers to those who were usually employed 35 or more hours per week. The Current Population Survey (CPS) questions used to obtain educational attainment were changed in 1992. In 1994, the survey instrument for the CPS was changed and weights were adjusted. For more information on the CPS, see supplemental note 2. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), March and Annual Social and Economic Supplement, selected years, 1981–2008.
 
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