In 2019, adults age 25 and over in rural areas more commonly held a high school degree as their highest level of educational attainment than had other levels of educational attainment.
This indicator examines adults’ highest level of educational attainment in the United States. Higher levels of educational attainment are positively correlated with many outcomes, such as employment, earnings, and health.1, 2 This indicator focuses on adults age 25 and over. It presents information for this group of adults overall as well as adults in specific age subgroups. The discussion focuses on both broad locale categories and sublocales.3 Data for this indicator come from the American Community Survey (ACS).
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1 High school completers include diploma recipients and those completing high school through alternative credentials, such as a GED. May include those who are currently enrolled in college but reported high school completion instead of some college as their highest level of educational attainment.
NOTE: Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population residing in the United States, including both noninstitutionalized persons (e.g., those living in households, college housing, or military housing located within the United States) and institutionalized persons (e.g., those living in prisons, nursing facilities, or other healthcare facilities). To view definitions of each locale, see https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/topical-studies/locale/definitions. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2019. See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 104.25.
1 High school completers include diploma recipients and those completing high school through alternative credentials, such as a GED. May include those who are currently enrolled in college but reported high school completion instead of some college as their highest level of educational attainment.
NOTE: Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population residing in the United States, including both noninstitutionalized persons (e.g., those living in households, college housing, or military housing located within the United States) and institutionalized persons (e.g., those living in prisons, nursing facilities, or other healthcare facilities). To view definitions of each locale, see https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/topical-studies/locale/definitions. Although rounded numbers are displayed, the figures are based on unrounded data. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2019. See Digest of Education Statistics 2020, table 104.25.
1 Irwin, V., Zhang, J., Wang, X., Hein, S., Wang, K., Roberts, A., York, C., Barmer, A., Bullock Mann, F., Dilig, R., and Parker, S. (2021). Report on the Condition of Education 2021 (NCES 2021-144). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
2 Cohen, A. K., and Syme, S. L. (2013). Education: A Missed Opportunity for Public Health Intervention. American Journal of Public Health, 103(6): 997–1001.
3 Please visit NCES’s Education Across America website for the definition of locale.
4 High school completers include diploma recipients and those completing high school through alternative credentials, such as a GED, and may include those who are currently enrolled in college but reported high school completion instead of some college as their highest level of educational attainment.
5 While the percentages of adults in remote rural areas and distant rural areas who had a bachelor’s degree appear to be similar when rounded (i.e., 19 percent), there was a difference in the unrounded percentages (18.6 percent for remote rural areas vs. 19.2 percent for distant rural areas).