Trends: Census Bureau
Annual Earnings by Education (Census)
Among full-time, year-round workers aged 25 and over in 2025, median annual earnings were $41,430 without a high school diploma, $51,480 with a high school diploma and no college, $60,990 with some college, and $92,170 with a bachelor's degree or higher, in 2025 dollars, from Census Bureau report P60-289 Table 11 (released September 15, 2026). The tables give both worker groups with 2024 for comparison.
All people with earnings, aged 25 and over
| Educational attainment | Workers, 2025 (thousands) | Median earnings, 2024 | Median earnings, 2025 | Margin of error, 2025 (±) | Change in median, 2025 less 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, aged 25 and older | 152,800 | $58,500 | $60,440 | $285 | +3.3% |
| No high school diploma | 8,335 | $33,810 | $35,410 | $559 | +4.8% |
| High school, no college | 37,270 | $43,320 | $45,710 | $373 | +5.5% |
| Some college | 37,480 | $52,050 | $52,030 | $273 | Z |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 69,680 | $82,770 | $81,840 | $431 | -1.1% |
Full-time, year-round workers, aged 25 and over
| Educational attainment | Workers, 2025 (thousands) | Median earnings, 2024 | Median earnings, 2025 | Margin of error, 2025 (±) | Change in median, 2025 less 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, aged 25 and older | 115,600 | $68,630 | $70,250 | $385 | +2.4% |
| No high school diploma | 5,557 | $41,470 | $41,430 | $531 | -0.1% |
| High school, no college | 27,360 | $51,870 | $51,480 | $249 | -0.7% |
| Some college | 27,830 | $61,680 | $60,990 | $400 | -1.1% |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 54,890 | $93,720 | $92,170 | $654 | -1.7% |
Reading these tables
The rows are workers aged 25 and over from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, grouped by the highest level of schooling completed, with median annual earnings (wages, salary and self-employment income before taxes) for the calendar year. The first table counts everyone with any earnings, including part-time and part-year workers; the second counts only full-time, year-round workers (35 or more hours a week, 50 or more weeks), which removes most of the difference in hours between groups. Both years are expressed in 2025 dollars as the Census note states, so the change column is a real change.
A change smaller than the margins of error is not statistically different from zero; in the published table, Census marks significant changes with an asterisk and prints "Z" where a figure rounds to zero. The four education categories are coarser than the BLS weekly table, which separates bachelor's-only from advanced degrees; the weekly earnings by education page carries that detail with the full distribution. The differences between rows describe groups of people who also differ in occupation, age and region; they are not a return to schooling for any individual. The Learn explainer covers both sources.
Source, release and next release
- Table: Table 11. Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2024 and 2025, fetched (SHA-256 497522e65696…).
- Publication: Income in the United States: 2025 (P60-289), released September 15, 2026.
- Census note: (Earnings in 2025 dollars, adjusted using the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) (2000-2025) and Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Retroactive Series (R-CPI-U-RS) (pre-2000). More information on inflation adjustment is available in Appendix A of "Income in the United States: 2025" at <https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2026/demo/p60-289.pdf>. People 15 years and older, as of March of the following year, with earnings. Information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions is available at <https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar26.pdf>)
- Figures are shown as published; this site does not seasonally adjust, deflate, interpolate or extend any series.