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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 504.20. Labor force status of recent high school dropouts, by sex and race/ethnicity: Selected years, October 1980 through 2020
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Year, sex, and
race/ethnicity
Number of
dropouts (in
thousands)
Percent of
all dropouts
Percentage distribution of dropouts Labor force
participa-
tion rate of
dropouts1
Dropouts in civilian labor force2 Dropouts not
in labor
force (in
thousands)
Employed Unemployed
(seeking
employment)
Not in labor
force
Number (in thousands) Unemployment rate
Total Unemployed
(seeking
employment)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  Estimates for individual years
All dropouts                                                            
1980 738   (44.0) 100.0   (†) 43.8   (2.97) 20.0   (2.37) 36.2   (2.87) 63.8   (2.87) 471   (35.2) 148   (19.5) 31.4   (3.44) 267   (26.5)
1990 412   (36.0) 100.0   (†) 46.3   (4.37) 21.6   (3.57) 32.2   (4.09) 67.8   (4.09) 279   (29.7) 89   (16.6) 31.8   (4.90) 132   (20.4)
2000 515   (28.5) 100.0   (†) 48.7   (2.77) 19.2   (3.01) 32.0   (2.59) 68.0   (2.59) 350   (23.5) 99   (17.2) 28.1   (4.16) 165   (16.2)
2005 407   (35.3) 100.0   (†) 38.3   (4.22) 18.9   (3.42) 42.8   (3.32) 57.2   (4.30) 233   (26.7) 77   (15.4) 32.9   (5.42) 174   (17.9)
2010 340   (29.0) 100.0   (†) 30.9   (4.24) 23.0   (4.29) 46.1   (4.78) 53.9   (4.78) 183   (21.5) 78   (16.0) 42.7   (6.67) 157   (21.9)
2017 530   (42.6) 100.0   (†) 33.9   (3.53) 7.9   (2.06) 58.2   (3.66) 41.8   (3.66) 222   (23.4)   (†) 18.9   (4.59) 308   (34.2)
2018 527   (46.5) 100.0   (†) 40.7   (4.07) 6.5 ! (2.06) 52.8   (4.47) 47.2   (4.47) 249   (32.5)   (†) 13.7   (4.04) 278   (33.4)
2019 490   (40.1) 100.0   (†) 32.6   (3.78) 5.7 ! (2.09) 61.8   (3.93) 38.2   (3.93) 187   (23.5)   (†) 14.8 ! (5.15) 303   (32.9)
2020 575   (48.5) 100.0   (†) 43.9   (3.93) 3.6 ! (1.47) 52.5   (3.96) 47.5   (3.96) 273   (31.8)   (†) 7.5 ! (3.09) 302   (34.9)
  3-year moving averages3
All dropouts                                                            
1980 748   (44.3) 100.0   (†) 44.4   (1.70) 19.9   (1.38) 35.7   (1.27) 64.3   (1.64) 481   (35.6) 149   (19.9) 30.9   (1.99) 267   (20.5)
1990 413   (36.1) 100.0   (†) 43.5   (2.50) 21.5   (2.08) 35.0   (1.86) 65.0   (2.41) 268   (29.1) 89   (16.8) 33.1   (2.96) 144   (16.5)
2000 515   (41.8) 100.0   (†) 44.1   (2.33) 19.0   (1.85) 36.9   (1.75) 63.1   (2.27) 325   (33.2) 98   (18.3) 30.1   (2.72) 190   (19.7)
2005 449   (37.1) 100.0   (†) 36.8   (2.30) 17.7   (1.83) 45.5   (1.84) 54.5   (2.38) 245   (27.4) 79   (15.7) 32.5   (3.04) 205   (19.4)
2010 365   (33.4) 100.0   (†) 28.7   (2.39) 23.7   (2.26) 47.6   (2.04) 52.4   (2.64) 191   (24.2) 87   (16.4) 45.2   (3.65) 174   (17.8)
2017 523   (26.6) 100.0   (†) 36.5   (2.32) 10.1   (1.33) 53.4   (2.43) 46.6   (2.43) 244   (17.9) 53   (7.6) 21.8   (2.67) 279   (18.8)
2018 516   (25.6) 100.0   (†) 35.8   (2.29) 6.7   (1.22) 57.5   (2.48) 42.5   (2.48) 219   (15.2) 35   (6.2) 15.8   (2.65) 296   (21.1)
2019 531   (25.2) 100.0   (†) 39.4   (2.51) 5.2   (1.09) 55.5   (2.54) 44.5   (2.54) 236   (17.4) 27   (5.9) 11.6   (2.38) 294   (19.6)
2020 533   (33.1) 100.0   (†) 38.7   (3.13) 4.5   (1.16) 56.8   (3.05) 43.2   (3.05) 230   (21.2)   (†) 10.5   (2.71) 302   (25.4)

Sex
                                                           
Male                                                            
1980 393   (31.6) 52.6   (1.69) 55.5   (2.31) 19.5   (1.84) 25.0   (2.01) 75.0   (2.01) 295   (27.4) 77   (14.0) 25.9   (2.35) 98   (15.8)
1990 216   (25.7) 52.3   (2.48) 50.9   (3.44) 25.2   (2.98) 23.9   (2.93) 76.1   (2.93) 164   (22.4) 55   (12.9) 33.1   (3.71) 52   (12.6)
2000 279   (30.3) 54.1   (2.30) 49.8   (3.14) 19.6   (2.49) 30.7   (2.90) 69.3   (2.90) 193   (25.2) 55   (13.4) 28.2   (3.39) 85   (16.8)
2005 254   (27.4) 56.5   (2.33) 40.0   (3.06) 19.0   (2.45) 41.0   (3.07) 59.0   (3.07) 150   (21.1) 48   (12.0) 32.2   (3.80) 104   (17.6)
2010 196   (24.1) 53.6   (2.60) 32.1   (3.32) 22.4   (2.97) 45.5   (3.54) 54.5   (3.54) 107   (17.8) 44   (11.4) 41.2   (4.74) 89   (16.3)
2017 287   (18.0) 54.9   (2.37) 41.0   (3.23) 11.2   (2.00) 47.8   (3.14) 52.2   (3.14) 150   (13.0) 32   (6.1) 21.5   (3.66) 137   (12.4)
2018 269   (16.7) 52.2   (2.36) 37.1   (3.27) 7.4   (1.81) 55.5   (3.37) 44.5   (3.37) 120   (11.1)   (†) 16.7   (3.84) 149   (13.6)
2019 274   (18.3) 51.7   (2.38) 40.2   (3.51) 5.6   (1.49) 54.2   (3.40) 45.8   (3.40) 126   (12.1)   (†) 12.3   (3.26) 149   (14.1)
2020 287   (24.3) 53.8   (2.85) 39.9   (4.09) 5.6 ! (1.83) 54.6   (3.94) 45.4   (3.94) 130   (15.2)   (†) 12.3 ! (4.02) 157   (18.1)
Female                                                            
1980 354   (29.1) 47.4   (1.63) 32.1   (2.21) 20.4   (1.91) 47.5   (2.37) 52.5   (2.37) 186   (21.1) 72   (13.1) 38.9   (3.19) 168   (20.0)
1990 197   (23.7) 47.7   (2.40) 35.4   (3.33) 17.4   (2.64) 47.2   (3.48) 52.8   (3.48) 104   (17.2) 34   (9.9) 33.0   (4.51) 93   (16.3)
2000 236   (27.0) 45.9   (2.23) 37.4   (3.19) 18.3   (2.55) 44.3   (3.28) 55.7   (3.28) 132   (20.1) 43   (11.6) 32.9   (4.15) 105   (18.0)
2005 196   (23.3) 43.5   (2.25) 32.6   (3.23) 16.0   (2.52) 51.4   (3.44) 48.6   (3.44) 95   (16.2) 31   (9.3) 32.9   (4.64) 101   (16.7)
2010 169   (21.7) 46.4   (2.51) 24.9   (3.20) 25.1   (3.21) 50.0   (3.70) 50.0   (3.70) 85   (15.3) 43   (10.9) 50.2   (5.23) 85   (15.3)
2017 236   (18.2) 45.1   (2.37) 30.9   (3.49) 8.8   (1.90) 60.2   (3.93) 39.8   (3.93) 94   (11.7)   (†) 22.2   (4.27) 142   (14.2)
2018 247   (18.3) 47.8   (2.36) 34.4   (3.37) 5.9   (1.67) 59.7   (3.71) 40.3   (3.71) 99   (11.4)   (†) 14.7   (3.79) 147   (14.6)
2019 256   (17.3) 48.3   (2.38) 38.5   (3.42) 4.7 ! (1.53) 56.8   (3.55) 43.2   (3.55) 111   (12.5)   (†) 10.9 ! (3.43) 146   (12.5)
2020 246   (20.7) 46.2   (2.85) 37.4   (4.20) 3.3 ! (1.60) 59.3   (4.23) 40.7   (4.23) 100   (13.8)   (†) 8.1 ! (3.92) 146   (15.5)

Race/ethnicity
                                                           
White                                                            
1980 494   (36.0) 66.0   (1.62) 50.9   (2.11) 17.6   (1.61) 31.5   (1.52) 68.5   (1.96) 338   (29.8) 87   (15.2) 25.7   (2.24) 156   (15.7)
1990 240   (27.5) 58.0   (2.49) 51.4   (3.31) 19.3   (2.63) 29.3   (2.33) 70.7   (3.02) 170   (23.1) 46   (12.1) 27.3   (3.53) 70   (11.5)
2000 279   (30.8) 54.1   (2.34) 48.3   (3.19) 18.7   (2.50) 33.0   (2.32) 67.0   (3.00) 187   (25.2) 52   (13.4) 27.8   (3.51) 92   (13.7)
2005 215   (25.7) 48.0   (2.38) 41.6   (3.40) 14.2   (2.42) 44.2   (2.64) 55.8   (3.42) 120   (19.2) 31 ! (9.7) 25.5   (4.04) 95   (13.2)
2010 164   (22.4) 45.0   (2.63) 32.7   (3.70) 20.8   (3.22) 46.4   (3.04) 53.6   (3.93) 88   (16.4) 34 ! (10.3) 38.9   (5.28) 76   (11.8)
2017 244   (16.6) 46.6   (2.50) 46.4   (3.28) 8.6   (1.63) 45.0   (3.19) 55.0   (3.19) 134   (12.9)   (†) 15.7   (2.94) 110   (9.9)
2018 233   (18.6) 45.1   (2.82) 49.3   (3.35) 5.2   (1.37) 45.5   (3.47) 54.5   (3.47) 127   (12.4)   (†) 9.5   (2.40) 106   (12.2)
2019 235   (18.4) 44.2   (2.77) 49.0   (3.23) 3.6 ! (1.17) 47.4   (3.36) 52.6   (3.36) 123   (12.5)   (†) 6.8 ! (2.14) 111   (11.8)
2020 243   (23.2) 45.7   (3.34) 45.6   (4.01) 3.5 ! (1.35) 50.9   (4.10) 49.1   (4.10) 119   (15.4)   (†) 7.2 ! (2.71) 124   (15.2)
Black                                                            
1980 154   (21.3) 20.6   (1.47) 21.0   (3.27) 28.3   (3.62) 50.6   (4.01) 49.4   (4.01) 76   (15.0) 44   (11.4) 57.4   (5.65) 78   (15.2)
1990 96   (18.5) 23.3   (2.27) 27.1   (4.93) 29.0   (5.04) 43.9   (5.51) 56.1   (5.51) 54   (13.8) 28 ! (10.0) 51.7   (7.41) 42   (12.3)
2000 102   (19.7) 19.8   (1.98) 28.0   (5.03) 22.2   (4.65) 49.8   (5.60) 50.2   (5.60) 51   (14.0)   (†) 44.2   (7.85) 51   (13.9)
2005 88   (17.4) 19.5   (2.01) 21.5   (4.71) 27.7   (5.13) 50.9   (5.73) 49.1   (5.73) 43   (12.2)   (†) 56.3   (8.11) 45   (12.4)
2010 70   (15.6) 19.3   (2.22) 22.4   (5.33) 30.4   (5.88) 47.2   (6.38) 52.8   (6.38) 37 ! (11.3)   (†) 57.5   (8.69) 33 ! (10.7)
2017 84   (10.7) 16.1   (1.89) 24.9   (4.95) 18.2   (4.66) 56.9   (6.42) 43.1   (6.42) 36   (6.8)   (†) 42.2   (8.49) 48   (8.3)
2018 79   (10.0) 15.4   (1.88) 17.4   (4.46) 14.5 ! (4.44) 68.2   (6.35) 31.8   (6.35)   (†)   (†)   (†) 54   (9.0)
2019 70   (9.4) 13.2   (1.75) 19.1   (4.99) 18.0 ! (5.47) 62.9   (6.83) 37.1   (6.83)   (†)   (†)   (†) 44   (8.2)
2020 61   (10.5) 11.5   (1.84) 19.4 ! (6.76)   (†) 70.3   (8.53) 29.7   (8.53)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Hispanic                                                            
1980 84   (18.7) 11.3   (1.36) 48.2   (6.40) 19.5   (5.07) 32.3   (5.99) 67.7   (5.99) 57   (15.4)   (†) 28.8   (7.05) 27 ! (10.6)
1990 66   (15.3) 15.9   (1.96) 39.3   (6.56) 19.9   (5.36) 40.8   (6.60) 59.2   (6.60) 39 ! (11.8)   (†) 33.5   (8.24) 27 ! (9.8)
2000 113   (20.8) 21.9   (2.06) 50.4   (5.32) 17.7   (4.06) 31.9   (4.96) 68.1   (4.96) 77   (17.1)   (†) 26.0   (5.66) 36 ! (11.7)
2005 125   (20.8) 27.9   (2.27) 39.2   (4.68) 16.1   (3.52) 44.7   (4.77) 55.3   (4.77) 69   (15.4)   (†) 29.1   (5.86) 56   (13.9)
2010 102   (18.8) 28.0   (2.52) 25.8   (4.64) 24.3   (4.55) 49.9   (5.30) 50.1   (5.30) 51   (13.3) 25 ! (9.3) 48.4   (7.49) 51   (13.3)
2017 149   (15.0) 28.5   (2.37) 29.1   (3.86) 8.4   (2.17) 62.5   (3.90) 37.5   (3.90) 56   (7.6)   (†) 22.4   (5.53) 93   (11.5)
2018 161   (16.8) 31.2   (2.71) 27.8   (3.73) 5.4 ! (2.11) 66.7   (4.26) 33.3   (4.26) 54   (7.6)   (†) 16.4 ! (5.64) 107   (14.5)
2019 166   (17.7) 31.3   (2.76) 33.7   (4.15)   (†) 62.6   (4.29) 37.4   (4.29) 62   (9.1)   (†) 9.9 ! (4.86) 104   (13.8)
2020 163   (21.4) 30.6   (3.29) 32.5   (5.49)   (†) 61.9   (5.53) 38.1   (5.53) 62   (11.4)   (†) 14.8 ! (7.23) 101   (16.8)
†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.
1The labor force participation rate is the percentage of persons who are either employed or seeking employment.
2The labor force includes all employed persons plus those seeking employment. The unemployment rate is the percentage of persons in the labor force who are not working and who made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the prior 4 weeks.
3A 3-year moving average is the arithmetic average of the year indicated, the year immediately preceding, and the year immediately following. For example, the estimates shown for 2000 reflect an average of 1999, 2000, and 2001. Use of a moving average increases the sample size, thereby reducing the size of sampling errors and producing more stable estimates. For the final year of available data, a 2-year moving average is used; thus, the estimates for 2020 reflect the average of 2019 and 2020.
NOTE: Dropouts are considered persons 16 to 24 years old who dropped out of school in the 12-month period ending in October of years shown. Includes dropouts from any grade, including a small number from elementary and middle schools. Data are for October of a given year. Data are based on sample surveys of the civilian noninstitutionalized population, which excludes persons in the military and persons living in institutions (e.g., prisons or nursing facilities). Prior to 2010, standard errors were computed using generalized variance function methodology rather than the more precise replicate weight methodology used in later years. Totals include race categories not separately shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), selected years, October, 1980 through 2020. (This table was prepared July 2022.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest