While it shouldn't be a surprise that advanced degree holders earn four times more money than high school dropouts, the earnings overall are lower than might be expected, particularly for women.
Education
According to tabulations just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006, adults 18 and older with a master's, professional or doctoral degree earned an average of $79,946, while those with less than a high school diploma earned about $19,915.
The "2006 Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic" supplement, which is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide, also showed adults with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $54,689 in 2005, while those with a high school diploma earned $29,448.
Other highlights from the tables found:
- 86 percent of all adults 25 and older reported they had completed at least high school. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of adults 25 and older had attained at least a bachelor's degree.
- High school graduation rates for women 25 and older continued to exceed those of men, 86 percent and 85 percent, respectively. However, a larger proportion of men held a bachelor's degree or higher (29 percent compared with 27 percent of women).
- Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (91 percent), followed by Asians (87 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).
- Minnesota and Alaska had the highest proportions of people 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher (around 93 percent).
- The District of Columbia had the highest proportion of people 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher (49 percent).
Gender
A sizeable gender earnings gap still exists, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, across nearly every occupational category. Overall, full-time working women earn 80 cents to every dollar earned by men. African-American women are paid an average of 67 cents and Hispanic women an average of 56 cents for every $1 earned by a white male.
Surprisingly, the gender penalty widens with education. Those women associate's and bachelor's degrees earned 75 cents to men's $1; those women with master's degrees earned even less -- 72 cents per dollar. Female doctorate degree holders earned 75 cents to men's $1, while those women with professional degrees earned 60 cents to men's $1.
A study by the Association of MBAs found that the average basic salary for all the male MBAs was $120,130, while women earned $97,700, a 20 percent differential. With bonuses, stock options and other incentives, the difference was nearly 25 percent, squaring with the Labor Bureau's numbers.
Beauty
In related news, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis conducted a study with researchers that found beautiful people tend to earn five percent more an hour than less attractive colleagues. Worse, the Fed found that plain or unattractive workers were penalized for their lack of looks, earning as much as nine percent less an hour.
Heavy white women were penalized for being overweight earning 17 percent less in 1981 and 1988 than women within the recommended body mass index range, while short men suffered similar discrimination. Those taller than the national median earned 1.8 percent increase in wages for every additional inch of height.
