FEB. 16, 2023 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released findings from the Educational Attainment in the United States: 2022 table package, which uses statistics from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement to examine the educational attainment of adults age 18 and older by demographic and social characteristics, such as age, sex, race and nativity. 

• In 2022, the highest level of education of the population age 25 and older in the United States ranged from less than high school to advanced degrees beyond a bachelor’s degree.
  • 9% had less than a high school diploma or equivalent.
  • 28% had high school as their highest level of school completed. 
  • 15% had completed some college but not a degree.
  • 10% had an associate degree as their highest level of school completed.
  • 23% had a bachelor’s degree as their highest degree.
  • 14% had completed advanced education such as a master’s degree, professional degree or doctorate. 
• Bachelor’s degree share has not risen significantly since 2020. In 2020, 37.5% of people age 25 or older had at least a bachelor’s degree, and in 2022, 37.7% had a bachelor’s degree, but the difference is not statistically significant.

• In 2022, 30.1% of men age 25 and older had completed a high school diploma or GED as their highest level of educational attainment, compared with 27.0% of women age 25 and older.
• In 2022, 39.0% of women age 25 and older, and 36.2% of men in the same age range, had completed a bachelor’s degree or more as their highest level of educational attainment.

• From 2012 to 2022, the percentage of adults age 25 and older who had completed high school increased for all race and Hispanic origin groups. During this period, high school completion increased from 92.5% to 95.2% for the non-Hispanic White population; from 85% to 90.1% for the Black population; from 88.9% to 92.3% for the Asian population; and from 65% to 75.2% for the Hispanic population.
• From 2012 to 2022, the percentage of adults age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more increased from 34.5% to 41.8% for the non-Hispanic White population; from 21.2% to 27.6% for the Black population; from 51% to 59.3% for the Asian population; and from 14.5% to 20.9% for the Hispanic population. 

• Recent immigrants to the United States were more likely to have a college education than earlier immigrants or U.S. natives. In 2022, among immigrants who arrived since 2010, 45.2% had a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 38.0% of U.S. natives, and 32.8% of earlier immigrants who arrived in the 1990s.
• Naturalized citizens and the children of immigrants both had high levels of educational attainment in 2022, with 41.6% of naturalized immigrants and 43.4% of children of immigrants having a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• In 2022, a greater share of U.S. immigrants (15.2%) than U.S. natives (14.0%) held advanced degrees, such as master’s degrees, professional degrees or doctorates.  

• Between 2020 and 2021, the mean nominal earnings of workers age 18 and older rose at all levels of educational attainment, with the largest growth (about $6,900) for people whose highest credential was a bachelor’s degree, and the smallest estimated at about $2,500 for people who did not have a high school diploma or GED.
• Average nominal earnings rose by about $4,700.
  • Average earnings for non-Hispanic White workers age 18 and older whose highest credential was a bachelor’s degree rose by about $7,700.
  • Earnings for Hispanic and Asian workers in this group rose by about $6,200 and $6,100, respectively.
  • The change for Black workers — estimated at about $2,600 — was not statistically significant.
  • Except for the difference between Non-Hispanic White workers and Black workers, the changes in mean earnings were not statistically different from each other for these race and Hispanic origin groups.

The Current Population Survey, sponsored jointly by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is the primary source of labor force statistics for the population of the United States.

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