Question:
What is the average income for young adults?
Response:
For young adults ages 25� who worked full time throughout a full year, higher educational attainment was associated with higher median earnings. This pattern of higher median earnings corresponding with higher levels of educational attainment was consistent for each year examined between 1995 and 2010. For example, young adults with a bachelor's degree consistently had higher median earnings than those with less education. This pattern also held across sex and race/ ethnicity subgroups.
In 2010, the median of earnings for young adults with a bachelor's degree was $45,000, while the median was $21,000 for those without a high school diploma or its equivalent, $29,900 for those with a high school diploma or its equivalent, and $37,000 for those with an associate's degree. In other words, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned more than twice as much as those without a high school diploma or its equivalent in 2010 (i.e., 114 percent more), 50 percent more than young adult High school completers, and 22 percent more than young adults with an associate's degree. In 2010, the median of earnings for young adults with a master's degree or higher was $54,700, some 21 percent more than the median for young adults with a bachelor's degree.
Earnings differences were also observed by sex and race/ ethnicity. In 2010, the median of earnings for young adult males was higher than the median for young adult females at every education level. For example, in 2010, young adult males with a bachelor's degree earned $49,800, while their female counterparts earned $40,000. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012�5), Indicator 49.| Median annual earnings of full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 25�, by educational attainment and sex: Selected years, 1995�10
[In constant 2010 dollars] |
|||||||
| Year | All education levels | High school diploma or equivalent | Bachelor's degree | ||||
| Male | |||||||
| 1995 | 38,500 | 34,300 | 50,000 | ||||
| 2000 | 40,500 | 36,500 | 56,700 | ||||
| 2005 | 39,100 | 33,400 | 50,200 | ||||
| 2006 | 37,900 | 32,400 | 53,300 | ||||
| 2007 | 39,900 | 32,400 | 52,500 | ||||
| 2008 | 40,500 | 32,400 | 53,600 | ||||
| 2009 | 40,700 | 33,400 | 51,300 | ||||
| 2010 | 39,900 | 32,800 | 49,800 | ||||
| Female | |||||||
| 1995 | 31,200 | 25,200 | 39,900 | ||||
| 2000 | 35,100 | 27,700 | 44,200 | ||||
| 2005 | 33,500 | 26,700 | 41,900 | ||||
| 2006 | 33,500 | 25,500 | 43,100 | ||||
| 2007 | 34,600 | 25,300 | 41,900 | ||||
| 2008 | 34,400 | 25,200 | 42,200 | ||||
| 2009 | 35,500 | 25,400 | 40,800 | ||||
| 2010 | 34,900 | 25,000 | 40,000 | ||||
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The Condition of Education 2012 (NCES 2012�5), Table A-49-1.
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