Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 501.30. Percentage and number of persons 18 to 24 years old who were neither enrolled in school nor working, by age group, high school completion status, sex, and race/ethnicity: 2006 through 2017
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Age group, high school completion status, sex, and race/ethnicity Percent who were neither enrolled in school nor working 2017
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Number (in thousands) Percent who were neither enrolled in school nor working
Total, all persons 18 to 24 years old Neither enrolled in school nor working
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
18 to 24 years old,
   all persons
15.4   (0.07) 15.6   (0.09) 15.2   (0.08) 17.6   (0.09) 17.9   (0.09) 17.7   (0.08) 17.1   (0.08) 16.7   (0.11) 15.9   (0.09) 14.8   (0.09) 14.1   (0.09) 30,845   (35.3) 4,281   (30.4) 13.9   (0.10)
Male 14.5   (0.10) 14.8   (0.12) 14.8   (0.12) 18.1   (0.15) 18.5   (0.12) 18.3   (0.12) 17.6   (0.11) 17.1   (0.14) 16.1   (0.14) 15.2   (0.13) 14.6   (0.12) 15,827   (21.9) 2,265   (20.4) 14.3   (0.12)
Female 16.4   (0.12) 16.5   (0.13) 15.6   (0.13) 17.0   (0.12) 17.2   (0.12) 17.1   (0.11) 16.6   (0.13) 16.3   (0.14) 15.7   (0.12) 14.5   (0.13) 13.6   (0.12) 15,018   (22.2) 2,015   (19.8) 13.4   (0.13)
                                                                                     
White 11.8   (0.08) 11.8   (0.09) 11.7   (0.11) 13.8   (0.11) 14.1   (0.10) 14.1   (0.11) 13.5   (0.10) 13.5   (0.12) 12.9   (0.09) 12.1   (0.11) 11.6   (0.12) 16,492   (11.1) 1,862   (21.6) 11.3   (0.13)
Black 25.3   (0.31) 25.5   (0.31) 25.0   (0.30) 27.3   (0.31) 27.9   (0.29) 27.4   (0.28) 27.2   (0.31) 26.2   (0.29) 24.9   (0.30) 22.6   (0.31) 21.0   (0.29) 4,424   (22.3) 955   (14.1) 21.6   (0.32)
Hispanic 20.9   (0.21) 21.2   (0.23) 20.4   (0.24) 22.8   (0.22) 22.6   (0.23) 22.0   (0.22) 21.2   (0.22) 19.8   (0.26) 18.4   (0.24) 17.5   (0.21) 16.6   (0.22) 6,821   (16.3) 1,098   (13.0) 16.1   (0.18)
Asian 9.1   (0.35) 9.0   (0.34) 7.7   (0.30) 9.9   (0.38) 9.4   (0.30) 9.0   (0.32) 8.6   (0.27) 9.0   (0.31) 8.7   (0.30) 8.2   (0.28) 7.6   (0.26) 1,718   (12.3) 128   (3.9) 7.4   (0.23)
Pacific Islander 19.6   (2.51) 21.1   (2.28) 20.3   (2.69) 21.3   (2.01) 23.8   (2.37) 24.2   (2.32) 24.8   (2.35) 21.3   (2.34) 23.7   (2.65) 16.8   (2.04) 15.5   (1.99) 55   (3.0) 11   (1.5) 19.8   (2.68)
American Indian/Alaska Native 30.2   (1.20) 32.7   (1.30) 29.0   (1.31) 34.0   (1.17) 34.3   (1.15) 33.3   (1.29) 32.7   (1.07) 33.3   (1.06) 32.1   (1.15) 31.0   (1.10) 32.0   (1.01) 221   (5.0) 65   (2.5) 29.2   (1.15)
Some other race 16.4   (1.79) 15.6   (1.74) 15.6   (1.86) 18.5   (1.99) 18.2   (2.22) 20.9   (2.26) 14.5   (1.60) 13.6   (1.73) 14.1   (1.54) 20.1   (2.07) 13.4   (1.82) 93   (5.6) 14   (1.8) 15.0   (1.64)
Two or more races 15.0   (0.55) 17.4   (0.69) 16.3   (0.56) 20.1   (0.64) 18.0   (0.63) 18.5   (0.60) 16.6   (0.55) 15.4   (0.48) 16.6   (0.52) 14.7   (0.54) 13.7   (0.49) 1,022   (16.2) 148   (5.0) 14.4   (0.43)
                                                                                     
Race/ethnicity by sex                                                                                    
Male                                                                                    
White 11.1   (0.12) 11.1   (0.13) 11.3   (0.14) 14.3   (0.17) 14.9   (0.13) 14.7   (0.15) 13.9   (0.14) 13.9   (0.16) 12.9   (0.16) 12.3   (0.15) 11.9   (0.16) 8,493   (8.9) 980   (15.0) 11.5   (0.17)
Black 28.9   (0.42) 28.3   (0.44) 29.0   (0.43) 31.5   (0.44) 32.5   (0.43) 31.8   (0.37) 31.1   (0.45) 30.3   (0.44) 28.6   (0.51) 26.5   (0.41) 24.5   (0.38) 2,244   (14.8) 568   (11.8) 25.3   (0.52)
Hispanic 15.5   (0.31) 16.6   (0.30) 16.3   (0.28) 20.5   (0.32) 20.3   (0.33) 19.9   (0.29) 19.5   (0.31) 18.1   (0.30) 16.9   (0.34) 15.9   (0.27) 15.3   (0.28) 3,512   (11.9) 531   (8.2) 15.1   (0.23)
Asian 9.0   (0.48) 8.4   (0.47) 6.8   (0.42) 9.2   (0.49) 9.3   (0.43) 8.6   (0.40) 8.1   (0.40) 8.3   (0.34) 8.1   (0.40) 8.0   (0.36) 7.7   (0.36) 876   (8.3) 64   (3.3) 7.3   (0.38)
Pacific Islander 18.0   (3.32) 21.1   (2.96) 17.2   (3.43) 17.4   (2.85) 23.0   (2.89) 19.8   (2.67) 23.6   (3.79) 19.8   (2.85) 17.9   (3.23) 10.4   (1.89) 13.5   (2.56) 29   (2.0) 6   (0.9) 19.0   (3.20)
American Indian/Alaska Native 29.8   (1.63) 33.7   (1.83) 29.0   (1.63) 35.7   (1.89) 36.6   (1.77) 35.2   (1.71) 34.1   (1.50) 34.7   (1.44) 33.0   (1.68) 32.0   (1.46) 34.9   (1.81) 110   (3.2) 31   (2.0) 28.1   (1.76)
Some other race 15.0   (2.32) 15.6   (2.41) 16.1   (2.47) 19.7   (2.91) 19.0   (2.66) 18.1   (2.72) 14.8   (2.17) 16.0   (2.22) 13.0   (2.34) 21.1   (3.11) 16.6   (2.69) 45   (3.4) 7   (1.1) 14.5   (2.10)
Two or more races 15.4   (0.76) 17.6   (0.96) 16.8   (0.85) 21.8   (1.02) 19.4   (0.83) 20.5   (0.83) 18.7   (0.82) 16.1   (0.72) 16.3   (0.74) 15.7   (0.83) 15.2   (0.75) 518   (10.6) 79   (3.6) 15.3   (0.63)
Female                                                                                    
White 12.5   (0.12) 12.6   (0.14) 12.0   (0.15) 13.2   (0.15) 13.4   (0.15) 13.6   (0.15) 13.0   (0.15) 13.2   (0.17) 13.0   (0.13) 11.9   (0.14) 11.3   (0.14) 7,999   (7.9) 882   (12.7) 11.0   (0.16)
Black 21.6   (0.43) 22.6   (0.41) 20.9   (0.41) 22.9   (0.42) 23.4   (0.39) 23.0   (0.36) 23.3   (0.40) 22.1   (0.39) 21.1   (0.38) 18.6   (0.37) 17.2   (0.37) 2,179   (13.8) 387   (7.6) 17.8   (0.36)
Hispanic 27.3   (0.33) 26.4   (0.36) 24.9   (0.37) 25.4   (0.33) 25.2   (0.30) 24.2   (0.34) 23.1   (0.31) 21.8   (0.40) 20.1   (0.35) 19.2   (0.31) 18.1   (0.30) 3,309   (9.2) 567   (9.6) 17.1   (0.29)
Asian 9.2   (0.47) 9.6   (0.47) 8.7   (0.42) 10.6   (0.51) 9.6   (0.41) 9.4   (0.45) 9.2   (0.41) 9.7   (0.45) 9.3   (0.43) 8.3   (0.40) 7.5   (0.38) 842   (9.1) 64   (2.6) 7.6   (0.30)
Pacific Islander 21.5   (3.59) 21.2   (3.60) 23.5   (3.68) 25.8   (3.18) 24.7   (3.17) 28.6   (3.76) 26.2   (3.11) 23.0   (3.17) 30.6   (4.17) 22.6   (3.27) 17.6   (2.77) 25   (1.9) 5   (0.9) 20.8   (3.29)
American Indian/Alaska Native 30.6   (1.56) 31.6   (1.58) 29.0   (1.76) 32.3   (1.65) 31.9   (1.51) 31.3   (1.65) 31.2   (1.59) 31.9   (1.46) 31.2   (1.53) 30.0   (1.61) 28.9   (1.46) 111   (3.4) 34   (1.7) 30.3   (1.33)
Some other race 18.1   (2.45) 15.6   (2.55) 15.1   (2.84) 17.1   (2.82) 17.5   (3.21) 23.5   (3.24) 14.1   (2.42) 11.4   (2.20) 15.3   (2.36) 19.1   (2.85) 10.2   (2.36) 48   (4.0) 8   (1.4) 15.6   (2.58)
Two or more races 14.6   (0.84) 17.2   (1.00) 15.9   (0.79) 18.3   (0.92) 16.5   (0.88) 16.7   (0.84) 14.5   (0.68) 14.7   (0.61) 16.9   (0.61) 13.8   (0.68) 12.1   (0.63) 504   (9.5) 68   (3.6) 13.5   (0.67)
                                                                                     
18 and 19 years old, all persons 11.8   (0.15) 12.4   (0.13) 12.1   (0.14) 13.8   (0.15) 13.9   (0.16) 13.5   (0.16) 13.0   (0.15) 12.5   (0.18) 11.6   (0.15) 11.1   (0.13) 10.5   (0.16) 8,817   (26.7) 950   (13.9) 10.8   (0.15)
                                                                                     
20 to 24 years old, all persons 16.9   (0.09) 17.0   (0.11) 16.5   (0.10) 19.1   (0.10) 19.6   (0.11) 19.4   (0.10) 18.7   (0.11) 18.3   (0.12) 17.6   (0.11) 16.3   (0.12) 15.5   (0.11) 22,028   (30.6) 3,331   (25.1) 15.1   (0.12)
Male 15.5   (0.13) 15.6   (0.14) 15.7   (0.13) 19.4   (0.17) 20.0   (0.15) 19.6   (0.16) 18.9   (0.14) 18.5   (0.16) 17.4   (0.17) 16.3   (0.17) 15.7   (0.15) 11,309   (21.8) 1,722   (16.8) 15.2   (0.15)
Female 18.4   (0.13) 18.5   (0.17) 17.4   (0.16) 18.9   (0.15) 19.2   (0.16) 19.3   (0.14) 18.5   (0.17) 18.2   (0.16) 17.7   (0.16) 16.2   (0.17) 15.3   (0.14) 10,719   (20.4) 1,609   (16.7) 15.0   (0.16)
                                                                                     
White 13.0   (0.10) 13.0   (0.11) 12.8   (0.13) 15.2   (0.14) 15.5   (0.14) 15.6   (0.14) 14.9   (0.13) 15.0   (0.15) 14.3   (0.12) 13.4   (0.12) 12.9   (0.14) 11,848   (14.5) 1,476   (17.9) 12.5   (0.15)
Black 28.0   (0.37) 28.0   (0.39) 27.6   (0.35) 30.1   (0.34) 31.2   (0.37) 30.5   (0.33) 30.1   (0.41) 28.6   (0.37) 27.8   (0.36) 24.9   (0.38) 23.2   (0.32) 3,156   (19.7) 747   (11.7) 23.7   (0.39)
Hispanic 22.4   (0.25) 22.5   (0.28) 21.6   (0.26) 24.3   (0.26) 24.5   (0.25) 23.8   (0.25) 22.8   (0.26) 21.4   (0.31) 19.8   (0.28) 18.8   (0.26) 18.1   (0.27) 4,833   (15.5) 827   (10.8) 17.1   (0.22)
Asian 10.4   (0.43) 10.5   (0.44) 9.1   (0.38) 11.4   (0.47) 10.8   (0.38) 10.3   (0.42) 10.2   (0.32) 10.4   (0.39) 10.1   (0.40) 9.5   (0.36) 9.0   (0.35) 1,247   (11.7) 104   (3.9) 8.3   (0.31)
Pacific Islander 22.2   (2.95) 19.6   (2.59) 22.2   (2.99) 24.5   (2.60) 26.2   (2.88) 27.8   (2.88) 26.5   (2.81) 19.9   (2.59) 22.3   (3.23) 19.8   (2.44) 16.6   (2.52) 38   (2.6) 8   (1.3) 20.2   (3.23)
American Indian/Alaska Native 32.9   (1.54) 37.3   (1.69) 31.9   (1.45) 36.9   (1.32) 37.2   (1.45) 36.4   (1.49) 34.3   (1.25) 37.5   (1.37) 36.5   (1.37) 33.3   (1.41) 35.2   (1.31) 155   (3.9) 49   (2.2) 31.6   (1.52)
Some other race 18.0   (2.26) 17.5   (2.22) 16.8   (2.45) 20.5   (2.71) 18.1   (2.74) 24.7   (2.73) 13.6   (1.85) 13.9   (2.01) 15.5   (1.84) 19.6   (2.39) 14.6   (2.23) 71   (4.9) 11   (1.4) 15.0   (1.63)
Two or more races 16.0   (0.70) 19.4   (0.90) 17.8   (0.71) 23.0   (0.78) 20.9   (0.90) 21.1   (0.80) 18.2   (0.68) 17.6   (0.71) 19.1   (0.72) 16.2   (0.71) 15.0   (0.58) 680   (12.8) 110   (4.8) 16.2   (0.62)
                                                                                     
Has completed high school,1
   all persons
13.1   (0.09) 13.2   (0.11) 12.8   (0.11) 15.3   (0.11) 15.8   (0.12) 15.9   (0.09) 15.4   (0.12) 15.2   (0.13) 14.8   (0.11) 13.7   (0.11) 13.1   (0.11) 20,332   (35.0) 2,625   (22.0) 12.9   (0.11)
Male 12.0   (0.14) 12.0   (0.14) 12.1   (0.15) 15.6   (0.17) 16.1   (0.16) 16.2   (0.15) 15.6   (0.15) 15.4   (0.16) 14.7   (0.16) 13.7   (0.15) 13.2   (0.15) 10,296   (22.2) 1,327   (13.3) 12.9   (0.13)
Female 14.2   (0.14) 14.4   (0.17) 13.5   (0.16) 14.9   (0.15) 15.4   (0.16) 15.6   (0.14) 15.2   (0.17) 15.0   (0.16) 14.9   (0.15) 13.8   (0.15) 13.0   (0.15) 10,036   (22.2) 1,298   (15.7) 12.9   (0.16)
                                                                                     
White 10.5   (0.10) 10.5   (0.11) 10.3   (0.13) 12.6   (0.14) 12.9   (0.13) 13.0   (0.13) 12.6   (0.13) 12.8   (0.15) 12.4   (0.11) 11.5   (0.12) 11.0   (0.13) 11,175   (16.3) 1,191   (16.0) 10.7   (0.14)
Black 21.8   (0.41) 21.8   (0.42) 21.6   (0.34) 24.1   (0.35) 25.1   (0.40) 24.8   (0.32) 24.9   (0.41) 23.5   (0.38) 23.4   (0.39) 21.1   (0.40) 19.5   (0.37) 2,849   (20.8) 581   (11.0) 20.4   (0.38)
Hispanic 17.4   (0.26) 17.6   (0.27) 16.4   (0.27) 19.0   (0.27) 19.5   (0.29) 19.8   (0.25) 18.5   (0.27) 17.7   (0.32) 16.4   (0.28) 15.8   (0.25) 15.2   (0.29) 4,235   (18.1) 621   (9.8) 14.7   (0.23)
Asian 9.1   (0.39) 9.1   (0.40) 8.3   (0.40) 10.0   (0.44) 9.4   (0.37) 9.1   (0.41) 8.9   (0.32) 9.5   (0.37) 8.9   (0.37) 8.5   (0.33) 8.2   (0.35) 1,202   (11.3) 90   (3.4) 7.5   (0.28)
Pacific Islander 17.6   (3.08) 17.0   (2.67) 20.4   (3.31) 19.4   (2.61) 24.8   (3.04) 25.0   (2.82) 22.4   (2.72) 18.8   (2.67) 17.6   (3.34) 17.7   (2.36) 15.8   (2.68) 36   (2.6) 7   (1.3) 19.2   (3.40)
American Indian/Alaska Native 25.7   (1.67) 29.4   (2.08) 26.0   (1.45) 29.2   (1.45) 29.6   (1.43) 30.9   (1.71) 29.6   (1.26) 32.9   (1.52) 32.0   (1.40) 27.9   (1.56) 30.8   (1.35) 135   (4.1) 38   (2.0) 28.0   (1.47)
Some other race 13.7   (2.10) 12.6   (1.98) 14.6   (2.53) 17.8   (2.61) 14.2   (2.62) 19.6   (2.59) 12.8   (1.89) 12.2   (1.94) 11.4   (1.80) 17.9   (2.47) 11.9   (1.89) 65   (4.5) 8   (1.2) 12.4   (1.55)
Two or more races 12.7   (0.72) 15.5   (0.94) 14.0   (0.64) 19.6   (0.81) 17.7   (0.93) 17.6   (0.76) 15.6   (0.70) 14.8   (0.69) 16.7   (0.73) 13.6   (0.65) 12.9   (0.57) 636   (12.2) 91   (4.5) 14.2   (0.64)
                                                                                     
Has not completed high school,
   all persons
41.1   (0.37) 43.0   (0.40) 42.8   (0.36) 47.5   (0.35) 47.8   (0.35) 47.9   (0.45) 48.2   (0.39) 46.0   (0.47) 44.8   (0.49) 42.7   (0.48) 42.6   (0.49) 1,696   (19.1) 706   (11.2) 41.6   (0.56)
Male 34.0   (0.48) 36.0   (0.45) 37.0   (0.52) 42.4   (0.47) 43.3   (0.45) 42.3   (0.51) 43.9   (0.58) 41.5   (0.60) 40.3   (0.64) 39.7   (0.55) 39.4   (0.62) 1,013   (14.7) 394   (8.3) 39.0   (0.64)
Female 52.1   (0.65) 53.6   (0.67) 51.5   (0.61) 55.3   (0.56) 55.0   (0.69) 56.3   (0.74) 54.5   (0.71) 52.9   (0.68) 51.4   (0.63) 47.1   (0.87) 47.6   (0.92) 683   (11.7) 311   (7.1) 45.6   (0.87)
                                                                                     
White 40.0   (0.50) 42.5   (0.66) 42.6   (0.61) 48.1   (0.67) 49.2   (0.62) 51.0   (0.68) 48.9   (0.66) 46.4   (0.70) 44.5   (0.79) 42.7   (0.69) 43.0   (0.88) 673   (10.7) 285   (7.1) 42.4   (0.79)
Black 58.0   (1.10) 58.9   (0.95) 58.8   (1.02) 62.1   (0.76) 64.6   (0.67) 63.1   (1.00) 63.3   (0.95) 60.0   (1.02) 58.7   (0.93) 55.9   (1.13) 54.2   (1.35) 307   (8.1) 166   (6.1) 54.1   (1.41)
Hispanic 34.3   (0.58) 35.2   (0.73) 35.5   (0.59) 39.3   (0.54) 39.3   (0.56) 38.1   (0.70) 40.5   (0.79) 38.0   (0.78) 37.1   (0.82) 35.6   (0.83) 36.4   (0.83) 597   (11.5) 206   (6.2) 34.5   (0.88)
Asian 36.2   (2.49) 38.2   (3.22) 26.6   (2.48) 38.3   (2.89) 37.8   (2.66) 32.0   (2.27) 37.7   (3.09) 36.4   (3.26) 38.3   (2.73) 31.7   (2.93) 30.4   (2.63) 45   (3.4) 14   (1.7) 30.7   (2.82)
Pacific Islander 49.6   (9.53) 43.1   (10.09) 36.5   (8.89) 58.9   (7.61)   (†) 48.4   (9.11) 49.2   (10.64)   (†) 56.4   (8.67)   (†) 23.6 ! (7.13) 2   (0.6)   (†) 34.4 ! (12.22)
American Indian/Alaska Native 58.5   (2.96) 67.5   (3.29) 53.6   (3.82) 66.9   (3.65) 67.1   (3.02) 58.1   (3.66) 57.6   (3.46) 58.0   (3.15) 58.2   (2.89) 56.1   (3.29) 57.5   (3.56) 20   (1.4) 11   (1.1) 56.3   (4.03)
Some other race 43.2   (9.41) 40.4   (6.54) 29.6   (7.61) 41.1   (8.85) 39.8   (7.57) 61.6   (9.79) 23.5 ! (7.85) 29.2   (8.04)   (†) 39.6   (11.25) 37.7   (10.56) 6   (1.5)   (†) 45.6   (7.32)
Two or more races 48.1   (3.32) 51.1   (3.33) 53.0   (3.29) 56.5   (3.05) 49.4   (3.46) 56.4   (3.09) 47.1   (2.76) 49.7   (3.22) 50.8   (2.55) 55.2   (3.20) 43.1   (3.19) 45   (3.0) 19   (2.0) 43.5   (3.17)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Includes completing high school through equivalency programs, such as a GED program.
NOTE: Data are based on sample surveys of the entire population in the given age range residing within 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). Institutionalized persons made up 1 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds in 2017. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2006 through 2017. (This table was prepared October 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest