Adults are far better educated “now” than they were in previous generations–higher and higher shares are going to, and completing, college. And this level of education is crucial, as recent Burning Glass data indicate that employers are asking for bachelors degrees or more as qualifications to fill nearly two-thirds of 2017 job postings!

A recent release from the Census Bureau highlights three primary, nationwide findings:

  • In 1940, less than 50% of the population age 25 and older had a high school diploma. As of 2017, the United States now has 90 percent who have completed high school.
  • And all the improvement didn’t just happen “before the modern era”! Between 2000 and 2017, the percentage of all people age 25 and older who had not completed high school decreased by more than one-third, dropping from 16 percent to 10 percent.
  • The rate of attainment for a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from about 26 percent in 2000 to approximately 34 percent in 2017, an increase of 9 percentage points.

Chart 1 below is from the recent Census report, and shows the general attainment trends from 1940 to 2017.
Detailed data from the Census release may be found here 

Chart 1: Educational Levels for the 25+ Population in the U.S. 1940-2017

Source: US Census Bureau, Decennial Census and Current Population Surveys

Table 1 below shows trend changes in Atlanta that are similar to those seen at the national level (in terms of attainment levels). To assess consistently defined metro areas, we can compare 2010 and 2016 1-Year American Community Survey –segmenting out the 12 largest MSAs (in terms of the number of people aged 25+, the group for which educational attainment is typically evaluated. 89 percent of those aged 25+ in the Atlanta MSA have a high school diploma or more in 2016, up 1.4 percentage points from 2010. The share of “bachelors -plus” shows even more relative improvement 2010-2016, up 3.6 percentage points to almost 38 percent of those aged 25+. This 3.6 point increase for Atlanta in those with a bachelors degree or more from 2010 to 2016, amongst the 12 largest MSAs, trails only the 3.9 percentage point increase of the Boston MSA.

It’s worth noting that the relative success of Atlanta “stands out” in the Southeast, a region that remains relatively low in educational attainment–as pointed out by a recent Federal Reserve report.

Table 1: Educational Attainment Trends: 2010-2016
Largest 12 Metros (in 25+ Population)

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2016 and 2010 1-Year; ARC Research & Analytics analysis