Higher Education pays! As per the latest Employment surveys
– By Somanshu Jend, ProtegeUR Analytics Desk
To verify a commonly held belief that ‘a college degree pays more’ is still valid, we analyzed the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment data for 2016 for employment, income, and academic levels needed for entry. The trends at all levels, i.e. across industries, confirm the superiority of the higher academic credentials in getting in better paying jobs require a minimum qualification to enter.
From the BLS survey, we found the following measures,
% Income Claim: Income share, compared to total income paid in the US economy, paid by the jobs that require a particular minimum academic qualification to enter?
% of Jobs: Jobs as a percentage of total jobs in the US economy, provided where a minimum academic qualification is needed to enter.
Average of Median Annual Wage: Average of the Median Income of jobs across industries/professions paid by jobs that require a minimum academic qualification.
| Academic Education Needed for Entry Level Job |
% Income Claim | % of Jobs (2016) |
Average of Median annual wage |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 6.42% | 2.71% | $95,158 |
| Master’s degree | 2.66% | 1.71% | $74,612 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 35.71% | 21.38% | $71,486 |
| Associate’s degree | 2.63% | 2.32% | $55,105 |
| Postsecondary non-degree award | 5.10% | 6.14% | $44,958 |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 33.29% | 39.41% | $40,635 |
| Some college, no degree | 1.91% | 2.47% | $37,573 |
| No formal educational credential | 12.29% | 23.85% | $29,823 |
Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Survey 2016
The survey data suggests:
- Median Income increases as the academic level (needed for entry) increases
- Jobs needing higher academic qualification holders pay disproportionately more than the jobs that need lower academic qualification holders
Trend I: The higher academic degrees you have, the more you earn.
Across industries the broad trend suggests that a jobs needing Doctorate degree to enter earns more than the Masters, which in turn earns more than the Bachelors and so on. More than 65% of jobs that require High School or lesser education to enter, and pay lower median income comparatively.
Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Survey 2016
Trend II: The society awards proportionately more income to higher educated
Across industries, jobs that require higher academic degrees award more income generated in the economy. Higher the qualification needed to enter, the higher is the income proportion.
Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Survey 2016
How is this income distributed on an individual basis when compared across jobs requiring a particular academic level.
The income claimed by doctorate degree holders is received by fewer people, hence individually, they receive more than compared to Masters degree holders.
Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Survey 2016
As the data suggests, that to claim higher income in a profession, one needs to go for higher academic qualification and enter into a profession that requires higher educational to get in.
We will share more detailed analysis in future articles.
Disclaimer: This article is written for educational purposes only, and does not provide detailed trends to be applied for any other objective. Please send questions to contact@protegeur.com
Future Articles: We will dig deeper into the employment trends and how industries differ in employing and rewarding different academic credential holders.
About ProtegeUR: ProtegeUR helps high school and above students devise a customized career roadmaps for entry into various careers & professions.