Learner Outcomes

Academic Outcomes

Table A-17-1. Median annual earnings and percentage of full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 25-34, by educational attainment, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1980-2009

Educational attainment, sex, and race/ethnicity	Median earnings [In constant 2009 dollars]										Percentage of wage and salary workers who worked full-time for a full-year in 2009¹
Educational attainment, sex, and race/ethnicity	1980	1985	1990		1995		2000		2005	2009
Total²	$39,000	$38,900	$36,100		$35,200		$37,400		$36,200	$38,000	61.0
Less than high school completion³	28,600	25,900	24,600		22,300		23,700		22,800	21,000	47.0
High school diploma or equivalent	36,400	33,900	31,600		29,300		31,100		30,600	30,000	55.3
Some college⁴	39,000	39,900	36,900		32,800		34,900		34,600	33,500	58.7
Associate's degree	—	—	—		35,200		37,400		37,300	36,000	65.1
Bachelor's degree or higher	46,900	49,800	48,100		46,500		49,800		48,300	50,000	69.4
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		43,600		48,600		44,800	45,000	69.1
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		56,300		56,100		54,900	60,000	70.0

Male	45,000	43,900	41,000		38,000		41,100		38,400	40,000	62.8
Less than high school completion³	31,200	28,600	26,300		25,300		24,900		24,200	23,000	49.2
High school diploma or equivalent	44,000	39,900	36,100		33,800		36,100		33,000	32,900	57.4
Some college⁴	46,900	45,900	41,000		36,600		41,000		38,400	39,000	62.7
Associate's degree	—	—	—		36,600		46,100		42,800	42,000	70.1
Bachelor's degree or higher	52,100	54,600	52,100		52,500		57,300		54,900	55,000	71.8
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		49,300		56,100		49,400	51,000	70.6
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		62,400		66,000		60,400	70,000	75.6

Female	31,200	31,900	32,000		31,000		33,600		33,000	35,000	58.9
Less than high school completion³	21,300	19,900	19,700		18,300		19,400		18,700	19,000	42.7
High school diploma or equivalent	28,600	27,900	26,300		24,800		26,200		26,400	25,000	51.8
Some college⁴	31,200	31,900	32,800		28,200		29,900		30,800	29,300	54.1
Associate's degree	—	—	—		33,800		32,400		33,000	31,000	60.8
Bachelor's degree or higher	38,700	41,600	42,700		42,200		44,200		43,900	45,000	67.2
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		39,400		43,600		41,700	40,100	67.9
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		49,300		49,800		51,600	54,000	65.7

White	40,300	39,900	39,100		36,600		39,900		38,400	40,000	62.5
Less than high school completion³	31,200	29,900	26,900		24,900		24,900		25,300	25,000	41.0
High school diploma or equivalent	37,400	35,900	32,800		31,000		34,300		33,000	32,000	55.9
Some college⁴	41,300	39,900	39,100		33,800		37,400		35,100	35,000	59.0
Associate's degree	—	—	—		36,600		39,900		38,400	39,900	65.4
Bachelor's degree or higher	46,900	49,900	49,300		47,900		49,800		49,400	50,000	69.5
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		45,000		49,800		45,000	45,000	69.4
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		56,300		56,100		54,900	58,000	69.5

Black	31,200	29,900	29,600		29,600		31,300		31,400	30,000	57.4
Less than high school completion³	23,000	20,100	19,700		19,700		23,700		22,800	23,200	38.1
High school diploma or equivalent	31,200	27,900	26,100		25,300		26,200		25,300	25,000	48.9
Some college⁴	33,800	29,900	32,000		31,000		32,400		32,000	29,500	57.7
Associate's degree	—	—	—		31,000		31,100		30,800	28,000	63.2
Bachelor's degree or higher	39,000	39,900	41,000		38,700		43,600		42,800	45,000	73.5
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		36,600		41,100		39,500	40,000	73.1
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		47,900		‡		48,300	55,000	74.7

Hispanic	$32,000	$30,100	$27,900		$26,500		$28,600		$27,500	$29,000	58.2
Less than high school completion³	26,000	22,800	21,100		21,100		22,400		22,000	20,000	51.8
High school diploma or equivalent	31,200	29,900	27,900		26,700		28,600		26,400	26,000	58.2
Some college⁴	39,000	37,900	32,800		28,200		33,600		35,100	32,400	61.1
Associate's degree	—	—	—		33,800		37,400		37,300	31,000	66.2
Bachelor's degree or higher	42,500	47,900	44,300		42,200		47,300		45,000	46,000	64.4
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—		40,500		44,800		43,900	45,000	64.2
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—		‡		‡		55,600	53,000	65.3

Asian	—	—	38,100	⁵	35,600	⁵	44,800	⁵	43,900	50,000	66.7
Less than high school completion³	—	—	‡	⁵	‡	⁵	‡	⁵	‡	‡	‡
High school diploma or equivalent	—	—	27,100	⁵	28,200	⁵	31,100	⁵	29,700	26,000	59.3
Some college⁴	—	—	32,800	⁵	26,200	⁵	34,900	⁵	33,000	38,000	57.4
Associate's degree	—	—	—	⁵	28,200	⁵	37,400	⁵	38,400	36,500	70.3
Bachelor's degree or higher	—	—	49,300	⁵	46,500	⁵	62,300	⁵	54,900	60,000	70.5
Bachelor's degree	—	—	—	⁵	42,900	⁵	61,000	⁵	54,900	50,000	69.7
Master's degree or higher	—	—	—	⁵	53,500	⁵	66,000	⁵	60,400	70,000	71.6

Pacific Islander	—	—	^⁽⁵⁾		^⁽⁵⁾		^⁽⁵⁾		‡	‡	46.9

American Indian/Alaska Native	—	—	32,800		28,200		29,900		33,000	30,000	59.8

Two or more races	—	—	—		—		—		37,300	34,000	50.2
— Not available.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
¹ Full-time, full-year wage workers as a percentage of the population ages 25–34 who reported working or looking for work in 2009.
² Totals for 1980 and 1985 include other racial/ethnic groups not shown.
³ Young adults in this category did not earn a high school diploma or receive alternative credentials, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.
⁴ 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.
⁵ 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 to 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. For more information on the Current Population Survey, see supplemental note 2. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Estimates for educational attainment categories for Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Two or more races subgroups did not meet reporting standards. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, selected years, 1981–2010.