2022 Income by Education: Average, Top One Percent, Median, and Percentiles

January 12th, 2024 by 
PK

Below, find United States average individual income by education and median individual income by education in 2022. Per tradition, also find the top 1% and individual income percentiles by education in the attached percentile calculator.

Find the statistics for people with education attainment:

  • Grades 1, 2, 3, or 4
  • Grades 5 or 6
  • Grades 7 or 8
  • Grade 9
  • Grade 10
  • Grade 11
  • 12th grade, no diploma
  • High school diploma or equivalent
  • Some college but no degree
  • Associate's degree, occupational/vocational program
  • Associate's degree, academic program
  • Bachelor's degree
  • Master's degree
  • Professional school degree
  • Doctorate degree

Average and Median Income by Education

Overall in 2022, the median individual income for a worker in the United States was $46,001. The average income was $66,755.25. See our individual income research for details.

The next chart shows the median and average income broken down by educational attainment:

Educational attainment in the US and average and median income in 2022

For every educational achievement category*, here is the average, median, and top 1% percentile income:

AttainmentAverage IncomeMedian IncomeTop 1% Income
Grades 1, 2, 3, or 4$28,928.51$25,010.00$106,000.00
Grades 5 or 6$33,290.17$26,000.00$140,000.00
Grades 7 or 8$33,535.13$27,840.00$163,007.00
Grade 9$27,688.97$20,126.00$145,065.00
Grade 10$18,716.53$8,002.00$110,030.00
Grade 11$19,124.59$9,540.00$120,001.00
12th grade, no diploma$30,684.18$23,026.00$153,030.00
High school diploma or equivalent$44,317.79$35,000.00$205,419.00
Some college but no degree$49,105.20$37,000.00$250,000.00
Associate's degree, occupational/vocational program$56,913.45$46,500.00$235,900.00
Associate's degree, academic program$56,283.78$45,760.00$220,600.00
Bachelor's degree$87,906.93$65,000.00$478,750.00
Master's degree$109,565.97$82,598.00$620,201.00
Professional school degree$170,645.46$118,036.00$1,090,021.00
Doctorate degree$158,892.73$116,001.00$937,450.00

*Read these as "highest educational achievement". For example, "Doctorate Degree" means graduated with a degree, not only pursued.

Income by Education Visualization, Comparison, and Income Percentile Calculator

Here is a calculator for plotting income percentile by education. It includes every income percentile for each group. Enter an income plus educational attainment to see where that income would rank.

Additionally, use the chart to overlay multiple educational groups. Then you can compare attainment cohorts for every percentile.

Income Percentile by Education Methodology

This data uses 2022 IPUMS-CPS data to calculate incomes versus educational attainment. See the income percentile calculator for methodology around the worker screen – I've only included people who were in (or close to) the workforce in full-year 2021. Also, find the deeper explanation of education attainment here.


https:/Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren and Michael Westberry. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Current Population Survey: Version 9.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2022. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V9.0

Workforce Size by Educational Achievement

This next table shows the number of samples we used to make the estimates, and the number of "workers" that maps to in the screen. You can use this information to decide just how much you trust the estimates – if at all!

AttainmentEstimated WorkersSamples
Grades 1, 2, 3, or 4290,839344
Grades 5 or 6732,012765
Grades 7 or 81,536,854763
Grade 91,642,282970
Grade 101,964,6531,407
Grade 112,772,6731,921
12th grade, no diploma3,823,6881,113
High school diploma or equivalent2,296,46120,999
Some college but no degree46,614,83112,440
Associate's degree, occupational/vocational program28,060,3133,543
Associate's degree, academic program7,609,8724,691
Bachelor's degree10,430,45718,714
Master's degree43,218,1788,263
Professional school degree18,523,9551,269
Doctorate degree2,723,4711,814

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PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

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