The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data on educational attainment in the United States for 2024, providing insight into the education levels of adults aged 18 and older across various demographic groups. The information comes from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which is a key source for national labor force statistics.
According to the data, 42.8% of people ages 25 to 39, 41.5% of those ages 40 to 54, and 34.2% of individuals age 55 and older held at least a bachelor’s degree in 2024. Women continued to outpace men in higher education achievement: “In 2024, 40.1% of women and 37.1% of men age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
Among employed workers, nearly half (49.3%) had either a high school diploma or an associate degree as their highest level of educational attainment, while another large portion (44.5%) held at least a bachelor’s degree; only a small percentage (6.1%) did not have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Professional roles showed higher rates of advanced education: “In 2024, 76.5% of people who worked in professional and related occupations and 64.2% of people in management, business and financial occupations held a bachelor’s degree or higher.” Conversely, installation, maintenance, and repair jobs had the highest proportion (78.3%) of workers with only a high school diploma or associate degree.
Industry-specific figures indicate that transportation and utilities employed the largest share (67.5%) of workers whose highest credential was a high school diploma or associate degree; meanwhile, information industries led with the highest percentage (64.9%) holding at least a bachelor’s degree.
The survey is conducted by both the Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as part of ongoing efforts to track workforce trends nationwide.
“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.
