The U.S. Census Bureau has published new data on educational attainment in the United States for 2024, focusing on adults aged 18 and older. The data, drawn from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, provides insights into education levels by age, sex, race, nativity, and other demographic factors.
According to the report, 42.8% of individuals between ages 25 to 39 held a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2024. For those aged 40 to 54, the percentage was 41.5%, while among those aged 55 and older it was 34.2%. Gender differences were also noted: “In 2024, 40.1% of women and 37.1% of men age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
The data shows that among employed workers in 2024, nearly half (49.3%) had a high school diploma or associate degree as their highest level of educational attainment, while another significant portion (44.5%) held at least a bachelor’s degree. Only a small fraction (6.1%) did not have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Occupational analysis reveals that professional and related fields had the highest proportion of workers with at least a bachelor’s degree—76.5%. Management, business, and financial occupations followed at 64.2%. In contrast, installation, maintenance, and repair roles had the largest share of employees with only a high school diploma or associate degree at 78.3%.
Industry comparisons show that transportation and utilities employed the highest percentage of workers whose top educational credential was a high school diploma or associate degree (67.5%). On the other hand, information industries (64.9%) as well as education and health services (61.2%) led in employing workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher.
The Current Population Survey is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and serves as the main source for national labor force statistics.
“More information on confidentiality protection, methodology, sampling and nonsampling error, and definitions is available in the technical documentation,” according to the Census Bureau release.
“All comparative statements in this tip sheet have undergone statistical testing, and unless otherwise noted, all are statistically significant at the 10 percent significance level,” said officials.
No formal news release accompanied these products; only this summary was provided.
