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


Table 501.40. Percentage distribution of 25- to 34-year-olds with various levels of educational attainment, by labor force status, sex, race/ethnicity, and U.S. nativity and citizenship status: 2017
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Sex, race/ethnicity, and U.S. nativity and citizenship status All 25- to 34-year-olds Less than high school completion High school completion1 Some college, no bachelor's degree2 Bachelor's or higher degree
In labor force Not in labor force In labor force Not in labor force In labor force Not in labor force In labor force Not in
labor force
In labor force Not in
labor force
Employed Unemployed (seeking employment) Employed Unemployed (seeking employment) Employed Unemployed (seeking employment) Employed Unemployed (seeking employment) Employed Unemployed (seeking employment)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Total3 78.1   (0.08) 4.6   (0.04) 17.4   (0.08) 55.9   (0.32) 7.4   (0.18) 36.6   (0.29) 70.9   (0.20) 6.3   (0.11) 22.8   (0.19) 79.4   (0.13) 4.6   (0.08) 16.0   (0.12) 87.4   (0.11) 2.6   (0.05) 10.0   (0.11)
                                                                                           
Sex                                                                                          
Male 82.1   (0.10) 4.9   (0.06) 13.0   (0.09) 65.1   (0.39) 7.4   (0.23) 27.5   (0.32) 76.5   (0.25) 6.5   (0.15) 17.1   (0.22) 84.0   (0.19) 4.6   (0.12) 11.4   (0.17) 90.9   (0.16) 2.9   (0.09) 6.2   (0.13)
Female 74.0   (0.12) 4.2   (0.06) 21.8   (0.11) 43.4   (0.47) 7.5   (0.32) 49.1   (0.50) 63.2   (0.33) 6.2   (0.15) 30.6   (0.31) 74.9   (0.21) 4.6   (0.10) 20.5   (0.19) 84.6   (0.15) 2.3   (0.05) 13.1   (0.15)
                                                                                           
Race/ethnicity                                                                                          
White 80.8   (0.11) 3.7   (0.05) 15.4   (0.10) 51.2   (0.60) 8.0   (0.33) 40.8   (0.58) 72.1   (0.26) 5.8   (0.13) 22.1   (0.27) 80.2   (0.16) 3.8   (0.09) 16.0   (0.15) 89.6   (0.13) 2.1   (0.05) 8.3   (0.12)
Black 72.1   (0.28) 8.1   (0.20) 19.8   (0.22) 39.7   (0.96) 13.4   (0.71) 46.9   (0.99) 64.1   (0.54) 10.2   (0.33) 25.7   (0.46) 78.1   (0.37) 7.1   (0.26) 14.8   (0.34) 87.7   (0.41) 4.3   (0.30) 8.0   (0.35)
Hispanic 76.1   (0.19) 4.6   (0.10) 19.3   (0.19) 65.3   (0.44) 5.1   (0.21) 29.6   (0.41) 73.8   (0.36) 4.9   (0.18) 21.3   (0.34) 79.7   (0.34) 4.6   (0.19) 15.7   (0.30) 86.3   (0.37) 3.1   (0.20) 10.6   (0.31)
Asian 75.5   (0.37) 3.5   (0.12) 21.0   (0.33) 57.8   (1.82) 4.7   (0.96) 37.5   (1.76) 70.0   (1.12) 4.1   (0.41) 25.9   (1.04) 75.4   (0.95) 4.3   (0.32) 20.3   (0.86) 77.7   (0.41) 3.1   (0.15) 19.2   (0.38)
Pacific Islander 73.6   (1.99) 4.0   (1.01) 22.4   (1.78) 48.6   (6.52)   (†) 48.9   (6.87) 72.2   (3.59) 3.8 ! (1.38) 24.0   (3.28) 76.0   (2.81) 6.3 ! (2.01) 17.6   (2.64) 86.8   (4.33)   (†) 11.9 ! (4.16)
American Indian/Alaska Native4 60.5   (1.13) 9.4   (0.65) 30.0   (1.13) 36.6   (3.03) 12.7   (2.03) 50.7   (3.31) 54.8   (1.87) 10.7   (1.20) 34.4   (1.80) 68.0   (1.71) 8.0   (0.93) 23.9   (1.56) 82.4   (2.17) 6.3   (1.51) 11.3   (1.80)
American Indian 61.2   (1.23) 9.3   (0.66) 29.6   (1.16) 37.1   (3.31) 10.5   (1.67) 52.4   (3.47) 56.2   (2.05) 10.0   (1.22) 33.8   (1.99) 68.0   (1.80) 8.9   (1.09) 23.2   (1.45) 81.0   (2.35) 7.1   (1.72) 11.9   (1.99)
Alaska Native 58.2   (4.57) 20.3   (4.17) 21.5   (2.87) 19.3   (5.43) 42.9   (10.93) 37.8   (8.52) 54.2   (6.22) 21.9   (6.30) 23.9   (4.77) 81.3   (5.78) 6.9 ! (2.41) 11.8 ! (5.04)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races 76.5   (0.59) 5.5   (0.29) 18.0   (0.50) 44.9   (3.11) 9.9   (1.64) 45.2   (2.94) 67.8   (1.46) 7.7   (0.69) 24.5   (1.30) 77.4   (0.95) 5.1   (0.53) 17.6   (0.81) 85.5   (0.73) 4.0   (0.39) 10.5   (0.61)
                                                                                           
Race/ethnicity by sex                                                                                          
Male                                                                                          
White 84.7   (0.13) 4.3   (0.07) 11.1   (0.11) 59.5   (0.75) 8.6   (0.45) 31.8   (0.66) 78.3   (0.29) 6.0   (0.17) 15.6   (0.26) 85.7   (0.21) 4.0   (0.12) 10.3   (0.19) 92.3   (0.14) 2.6   (0.09) 5.2   (0.13)
Black 69.4   (0.42) 8.6   (0.29) 22.0   (0.32) 35.6   (1.27) 13.1   (0.84) 51.3   (1.31) 62.3   (0.80) 10.3   (0.54) 27.4   (0.67) 78.5   (0.65) 7.2   (0.44) 14.3   (0.55) 88.1   (0.68) 5.0   (0.52) 6.9   (0.59)
Hispanic 83.6   (0.22) 4.5   (0.14) 11.9   (0.21) 79.0   (0.52) 4.8   (0.27) 16.2   (0.47) 82.4   (0.46) 4.9   (0.25) 12.7   (0.39) 85.2   (0.39) 4.4   (0.27) 10.5   (0.35) 90.2   (0.51) 3.5   (0.33) 6.2   (0.36)
Asian 84.1   (0.45) 3.4   (0.20) 12.5   (0.38) 72.4   (2.20) 4.1   (1.05) 23.5   (2.09) 78.8   (1.34) 4.0   (0.59) 17.1   (1.25) 79.7   (1.13) 5.0   (0.53) 15.3   (1.03) 87.2   (0.51) 2.7   (0.21) 10.0   (0.44)
Pacific Islander 81.4   (2.38) 3.1 ! (1.24) 15.5   (2.19) 62.1   (9.31)   (†) 37.9   (9.31) 81.8   (4.02)   (†) 15.8   (3.78) 80.2   (3.88) 6.6 ! (3.04) 13.3   (3.37) 97.3   (1.82)   (†)   (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native4 61.5   (1.72) 9.9   (0.92) 28.6   (1.61) 41.5   (3.76) 10.0   (2.07) 48.5   (4.13) 55.9   (2.58) 11.8   (1.72) 32.2   (2.28) 69.0   (2.52) 8.6   (1.54) 22.4   (2.37) 87.8   (3.16) 7.6 ! (2.50) 4.6 ! (1.89)
American Indian 62.5   (1.83) 9.7   (0.95) 27.8   (1.67) 43.5   (4.17) 9.0   (2.04) 47.6   (4.47) 56.7   (2.80) 10.5   (1.71) 32.7   (2.71) 69.8   (2.53) 9.7   (1.80) 20.5   (2.01) 86.8   (3.50) 8.0 ! (2.74) 5.2 ! (2.17)
Alaska Native 55.6   (6.43) 19.2 ! (6.07) 25.2   (3.99) 20.0 ! (6.82) 31.3 ! (12.50) 48.7   (10.79) 50.5   (8.66) 23.0 ! (8.88) 26.5   (6.06) 90.2   (6.51)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races 78.7   (0.79) 5.8   (0.39) 15.5   (0.67) 52.3   (4.35) 10.8   (2.34) 36.9   (4.08) 72.7   (1.76) 7.5   (1.02) 19.8   (1.35) 80.1   (1.16) 4.3   (0.61) 15.6   (1.07) 86.8   (1.11) 5.0   (0.72) 8.2   (0.84)
Female                                                                                          
White 76.9   (0.16) 3.2   (0.06) 19.8   (0.16) 39.7   (0.82) 7.2   (0.47) 53.1   (0.88) 63.0   (0.44) 5.4   (0.20) 31.6   (0.46) 74.6   (0.26) 3.7   (0.12) 21.7   (0.25) 87.5   (0.19) 1.7   (0.06) 10.8   (0.18)
Black 74.7   (0.39) 7.5   (0.24) 17.8   (0.31) 45.4   (1.54) 13.9   (1.01) 40.7   (1.57) 66.3   (0.68) 10.1   (0.48) 23.6   (0.67) 77.8   (0.56) 7.0   (0.35) 15.1   (0.52) 87.5   (0.48) 3.7   (0.29) 8.8   (0.38)
Hispanic 68.0   (0.33) 4.6   (0.15) 27.4   (0.31) 45.9   (0.70) 5.6   (0.39) 48.4   (0.70) 62.6   (0.59) 4.9   (0.28) 32.5   (0.58) 74.6   (0.59) 4.9   (0.25) 20.6   (0.53) 83.3   (0.48) 2.8   (0.23) 13.9   (0.45)
Asian 67.6   (0.49) 3.6   (0.18) 28.8   (0.47) 44.4   (2.34) 5.3   (1.39) 50.4   (2.40) 61.4   (1.73) 4.2   (0.62) 34.4   (1.72) 70.8   (1.31) 3.5   (0.44) 25.7   (1.22) 69.3   (0.56) 3.4   (0.19) 27.3   (0.57)
Pacific Islander 65.6   (3.23) 4.9   (1.43) 29.4   (2.94) 33.1   (8.36)   (†) 61.6   (9.10) 61.6   (5.25) 5.4 ! (2.45) 33.0   (4.58) 71.6   (4.07) 6.1 ! (2.61) 22.3   (4.06) 79.1   (7.34)   (†) 18.8 ! (7.10)
American Indian/Alaska Native4 59.6   (1.54) 8.9   (0.84) 31.5   (1.42) 29.1   (4.51) 16.8   (4.01) 54.2   (4.60) 53.5   (3.10) 9.4   (1.72) 37.1   (2.95) 67.3   (2.29) 7.5   (1.22) 25.2   (2.00) 77.7   (3.26) 5.1 ! (1.70) 17.2   (3.11)
American Indian 59.7   (1.60) 8.9   (0.85) 31.4   (1.44) 26.6   (5.17) 12.9   (3.03) 60.4   (4.94) 55.5   (3.32) 9.5   (1.91) 35.0   (3.10) 66.5   (2.31) 8.2   (1.43) 25.4   (1.87) 75.6   (3.60) 6.2 ! (2.05) 18.2   (3.39)
Alaska Native 61.2   (6.85) 21.7   (6.43) 17.1   (4.38)   (†)   (†)   (†) 61.4   (7.24) 19.8 ! (6.28) 18.8 ! (6.29) 74.3   (8.05) 8.7 ! (3.07) 17.0 ! (8.10)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Two or more races 74.3   (0.82) 5.2   (0.39) 20.5   (0.69) 36.8   (3.88) 8.8   (2.26) 54.4   (3.60) 60.4   (2.20) 8.0   (1.01) 31.5   (2.18) 74.6   (1.45) 5.9   (0.76) 19.5   (1.25) 84.5   (0.98) 3.2   (0.41) 12.3   (0.91)
                                                                                           
Nativity                                                                                          
Hispanic                                                                                          
U.S.-born5 76.7   (0.27) 5.1   (0.15) 18.2   (0.24) 55.7   (0.88) 7.8   (0.48) 36.5   (0.78) 73.0   (0.50) 5.8   (0.23) 21.2   (0.46) 79.6   (0.40) 4.9   (0.22) 15.4   (0.35) 88.3   (0.38) 3.1   (0.22) 8.6   (0.32)
Foreign-born 75.1   (0.32) 3.6   (0.12) 21.2   (0.33) 70.5   (0.56) 3.7   (0.24) 25.8   (0.53) 74.9   (0.59) 3.7   (0.26) 21.5   (0.60) 79.9   (0.63) 3.7   (0.30) 16.4   (0.59) 80.9   (0.77) 3.2   (0.36) 15.9   (0.70)
Asian                                                                                          
U.S.-born5 82.1   (0.50) 3.8   (0.20) 14.1   (0.48) 41.0   (4.20) 10.8   (2.59) 48.2   (3.59) 72.7   (1.61) 5.4   (0.70) 21.9   (1.54) 79.7   (1.13) 3.9   (0.48) 16.4   (1.03) 86.5   (0.51) 3.1   (0.25) 10.3   (0.51)
Foreign-born 72.4   (0.47) 3.4   (0.15) 24.3   (0.42) 62.2   (1.86) 3.1   (0.93) 34.7   (1.83) 68.6   (1.35) 3.5   (0.50) 27.8   (1.25) 72.2   (1.22) 4.6   (0.45) 23.2   (1.13) 73.8   (0.53) 3.1   (0.18) 23.1   (0.47)
                                                                                           
Citizenship status                                                                                          
U.S.-born citizen 78.9   (0.08) 4.7   (0.05) 16.4   (0.08) 48.8   (0.44) 9.5   (0.27) 41.7   (0.39) 70.6   (0.22) 6.8   (0.12) 22.7   (0.22) 79.7   (0.13) 4.7   (0.09) 15.6   (0.13) 89.8   (0.11) 2.4   (0.05) 7.8   (0.10)
Naturalized citizen 80.7   (0.33) 3.7   (0.19) 15.6   (0.29) 69.9   (1.57) 4.3   (0.68) 25.8   (1.36) 75.1   (0.82) 4.4   (0.42) 20.5   (0.71) 80.5   (0.73) 3.9   (0.33) 15.6   (0.68) 85.6   (0.45) 3.2   (0.25) 11.2   (0.36)
Noncitizen 70.9   (0.29) 3.7   (0.11) 25.4   (0.29) 68.5   (0.53) 3.8   (0.25) 27.7   (0.49) 71.6   (0.54) 3.9   (0.28) 24.6   (0.51) 73.2   (0.72) 3.8   (0.32) 23.0   (0.66) 71.1   (0.50) 3.5   (0.19) 25.3   (0.46)
†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 Data are for all persons with high school completion as their highest level of education, including those with equivalency credentials, such as the GED credential.
2 Includes persons with no college degree as well as those with an associate's degree.
3 Total includes other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately.
4 Includes persons reporting American Indian alone, persons reporting Alaska Native alone, and persons from American Indian and/or Alaska Native tribes specified or not specified.
5 Includes those born in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Marianas, as well as those born abroad to U.S.-citizen parents.
NOTE: Estimates are for the entire civilian population in the given age range, including persons living in households and persons living in group quarters (e.g., college residence halls, residential treatment centers, or correctional facilities). The labor force consists of all employed persons plus those seeking employment. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2017. (This table was prepared June 2019.)

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