Table 2.9
Educational attainment, by income group, selected years, 1979–2007
| 1979 | 1989 | 1995 | 2000 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom fifth | |||||
| Less than high school | 45.3% | 35.5% | 34.1% | 32.6% | 30.4% |
| High school only | 33.4 | 40.1 | 36.9 | 38.7 | 37.8 |
| Some college | 15.2 | 18.0 | 23.0 | 21.9 | 23.7 |
| College graduate | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 6.3 |
| Advanced degree | 2.3 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Second fifth | |||||
| Less than high school | 32.5% | 23.1% | 21.3% | 20.6% | 17.6% |
| High school only | 39.4 | 44.3 | 41.7 | 39.6 | 39.2 |
| Some college | 19.1 | 22.5 | 26.5 | 28.9 | 30.1 |
| College graduate | 5.8 | 6.9 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 10.5 |
| Advanced degree | 3.3 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| Middle fifth | |||||
| Less than high school | 22.4% | 14.8% | 12.2% | 11.7% | 9.8% |
| High school only | 41.6 | 43.6 | 39.4 | 37.4 | 35.5 |
| Some college | 21.5 | 25.6 | 31.3 | 32.5 | 32.4 |
| College graduate | 9.4 | 10.6 | 13.5 | 14.2 | 16.7 |
| Advanced degree | 5.1 | 5.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 5.6 |
| Fourth fifth | |||||
| Less than high school | 17.4% | 9.6% | 7.3% | 6.4% | 4.9% |
| High school only | 39.7 | 37.4 | 33.6 | 31.1 | 28.2 |
| Some college | 23.5 | 28.3 | 32.2 | 32.3 | 32.6 |
| College graduate | 11.4 | 15.7 | 19.2 | 21.8 | 23.8 |
| Advanced degree | 8.0 | 9.1 | 7.7 | 8.4 | 10.6 |
| 80th–<95th percentile | |||||
| Less than high school | 11.3% | 5.7% | 3.4% | 3.0% | 2.4% |
| High school only | 35.7 | 28.1 | 23.1 | 20.8 | 18.7 |
| Some college | 24.6 | 26.4 | 28.9 | 27.9 | 26.4 |
| College graduate | 15.5 | 22.5 | 28.7 | 30.5 | 32.5 |
| Advanced degree | 12.9 | 17.4 | 15.9 | 17.8 | 20.0 |
| Top 5 percent | |||||
| Less than high school | 6.3% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.2% |
| High school only | 24.5 | 16.0 | 13.5 | 9.8 | 8.3 |
| Some college | 23.0 | 20.7 | 19.3 | 18.3 | 16.9 |
| College graduate | 21.9 | 29.7 | 32.6 | 37.4 | 36.7 |
| Advanced degree | 24.3 | 31.4 | 32.7 | 33.1 | 36.9 |
| All | |||||
| Less than high school | 20.2% | 13.2% | 11.0% | 10.7% | 9.0% |
| High school only | 37.4 | 36.1 | 32.3 | 30.6 | 28.6 |
| Some college | 22.1 | 25.0 | 28.7 | 29.0 | 29.0 |
| College graduate | 11.5 | 15.1 | 18.6 | 19.9 | 21.8 |
| Advanced degree | 8.8 | 10.6 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 11.7 |
Note: Educational attainment is measured by determining what share of a given income group's total hours worked were worked by workers with a given education level.
Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata
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