Table 9. Percent distribution of the civilian labor force 25 to 64 years of age by educational attainment and sex, 1970-2009

Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2010 Edition)

Table 9. Percent distribution of the civilian labor force 25 to 64 years of age by educational attainment and sex, 1970–2009
Year	Civilian labor force (thousands)	Percent distribution					Civilian labor force (thousands)	Percent distribution
		Total	High school		College			Total	Less than a high school diploma	High school graduates, no college	Some college, no degree, or associate's degree	College graduates
		Total	Less than 4 years	4 years, no college	1 to 3 years	4 years or more		Total	Less than a high school diploma	High school graduates, no college	Some college, no degree, or associate's degree	College graduates
Total, both sexes
1970 (1)	61,765	100.0	36.1	38.1	11.8	14.1
1971	62,344	100.0	34.5	38.4	12.3	14.8
1972	63,704	100.0	33.3	38.8	12.4	15.5
1973	64,775	100.0	30.9	39.7	13.0	16.4
1974	66,527	100.0	29.3	39.5	13.7	17.5
1975	67,774	100.0	27.5	39.7	14.4	18.3
1976	69,243	100.0	25.8	39.6	15.2	19.4
1977	71,324	100.0	24.9	39.2	15.7	20.2
1978	73,504	100.0	23.7	39.2	16.5	20.6
1979	75,781	100.0	21.8	39.5	17.3	21.3
1980	78,010	100.0	20.6	39.8	17.6	22.0
1981	80,273	100.0	19.7	40.6	17.7	22.0
1982	81,516	100.0	18.8	40.8	17.3	23.1
1983	83,615	100.0	17.8	39.9	18.1	24.2
1984	86,001	100.0	16.7	40.2	18.4	24.7
1985	88,424	100.0	15.9	40.2	19.0	24.9
1986	90,500	100.0	15.5	40.2	19.5	24.8
1987	92,966	100.0	14.9	40.2	19.7	25.3
1988	94,870	100.0	14.7	39.9	19.7	25.7
1989	97,318	100.0	14.0	39.6	20.0	26.4
1990	99,175	100.0	13.4	39.5	20.7	26.4
1991	100,480	100.0	13.0	39.4	21.1	26.5
1992 (2)							103,018	100.0	12.1	35.7	25.6	26.6
1993							104,237	100.0	11.3	35.1	26.6	27.0
1994							105,610	100.0	10.8	33.9	27.7	27.6
1995							107,032	100.0	10.4	33.2	28.1	28.3
1996							108,932	100.0	10.6	32.9	27.8	28.7
1997							110,945	100.0	10.6	32.9	27.5	29.0
1998							111,932	100.0	10.5	32.4	27.4	29.8
1999							113,095	100.0	10.0	31.8	27.6	30.5
2000							115,750	100.0	10.1	31.4	27.8	30.7
2001							116,893	100.0	10.1	30.9	28.0	31.0
2002							118,028	100.0	10.0	30.7	27.7	31.6
2003							119,621	100.0	9.9	30.3	27.6	32.1
2004							120,135	100.0	9.7	30.1	27.7	32.4
2005							121,752	100.0	9.8	29.9	27.8	32.5
2006							123,550	100.0	9.7	29.6	27.7	33.0
2007							125,104	100.0	9.3	29.2	27.7	33.8
2008							126,011	100.0	9.0	28.8	28.0	34.2
2009							126,247	100.0	9.0	28.6	28.0	34.4
Women
1970 (1)	22,462	100.0	33.5	44.3	10.9	11.2
1971	22,804	100.0	32.2	44.2	11.9	11.8
1972	23,606	100.0	30.7	45.1	11.8	12.4
1973	24,158	100.0	28.4	45.9	12.4	13.3
1974	25,203	100.0	26.7	45.3	13.4	14.6
1975	26,146	100.0	26.5	45.5	13.9	14.1
1976	27,166	100.0	24.0	45.1	14.7	16.2
1977	28,369	100.0	22.8	45.1	15.2	16.9
1978	29,738	100.0	22.0	44.9	16.1	17.0
1979	31,151	100.0	20.1	45.0	17.1	17.8
1980	32,593	100.0	18.4	45.4	17.4	18.7
1981	33,910	100.0	17.4	46.1	17.9	18.6
1982	34,870	100.0	16.6	45.6	18.3	19.5
1983	35,712	100.0	15.6	44.8	18.8	20.9
1984	37,234	100.0	14.5	44.9	18.9	21.7
1985	38,779	100.0	13.7	44.4	19.9	22.0
1986	39,767	100.0	13.2	44.3	20.3	22.2
1987	41,105	100.0	12.5	44.0	20.7	22.8
1988	42,254	100.0	12.4	43.3	21.2	23.1
1989	43,650	100.0	11.9	42.9	20.9	24.3
1990	44,699	100.0	11.3	42.4	21.9	24.5
1991	45,315	100.0	10.9	41.6	22.2	25.2
1992 (2)							46,589	100.0	10.3	37.4	27.3	25.0
1993							47,245	100.0	9.3	36.6	28.4	25.7
1994							48,405	100.0	9.0	35.0	29.8	26.2
1995							49,247	100.0	8.8	34.1	30.2	26.9
1996							50,240	100.0	8.8	33.6	29.9	27.8
1997							51,261	100.0	8.7	33.5	29.4	28.4
1998							51,678	100.0	8.8	32.7	29.4	29.2
1999							52,525	100.0	8.5	32.1	29.5	29.9
2000							53,749	100.0	8.5	31.6	29.8	30.1
2001							54,229	100.0	8.4	31.0	30.2	30.4
2002							54,710	100.0	8.1	30.6	29.9	31.3
2003							55,596	100.0	7.9	30.0	29.9	32.2
2004							55,616	100.0	7.7	29.4	30.2	32.6
2005							56,322	100.0	7.7	28.7	30.2	33.3
2006							57,201	100.0	7.6	28.3	30.2	33.9
2007							57,791	100.0	7.1	27.9	30.1	34.9
2008							58,465	100.0	6.9	27.2	30.4	35.6
2009							58,787	100.0	7.0	26.7	30.3	36.0
Men
1970 (1)	39,303	100.0	37.5	34.5	12.2	15.7
1971	39,539	100.0	35.9	35.1	12.5	16.5
1972	40,098	100.0	34.8	35.1	12.8	17.3
1973	40,617	100.0	32.4	36.0	13.4	18.2
1974	41,344	100.0	30.8	36.0	13.9	19.3
1975	41,628	100.0	28.9	36.1	14.8	20.2
1976	42,077	100.0	27.0	36.0	15.5	21.5
1977	42,954	100.0	26.3	35.3	16.1	22.3
1978	43,766	100.0	24.8	35.3	16.9	23.0
1979	44,630	100.0	23.0	35.7	17.5	23.8
1980	45,417	100.0	22.2	35.7	17.7	24.3
1981	46,363	100.0	21.5	36.5	17.4	24.6
1982	47,144	100.0	20.3	36.8	17.5	25.5
1983	47,903	100.0	19.4	36.3	17.7	26.6
1984	48,767	100.0	18.4	36.7	18.0	26.9
1985	49,647	100.0	17.7	36.9	18.3	27.1
1986	50,733	100.0	17.2	37.0	18.9	26.9
1987	51,860	100.0	16.8	37.1	18.9	27.2
1988	52,616	100.0	16.5	37.3	18.5	27.8
1989	53,668	100.0	15.7	36.9	19.2	28.2
1990	54,476	100.0	15.1	37.2	19.7	28.0
1991	55,165	100.0	14.7	37.5	20.2	27.6
1992 (2)							56,428	100.0	13.7	34.2	24.3	27.8
1993							56,992	100.0	12.9	33.9	25.1	28.1
1994							57,205	100.0	12.4	33.0	25.9	28.8
1995							57,784	100.0	11.8	32.4	26.3	29.4
1996							58,692	100.0	12.2	32.3	26.1	29.4
1997							59,684	100.0	12.2	32.4	25.9	29.6
1998							60,255	100.0	12.0	32.1	25.6	30.3
1999							60,570	100.0	11.4	31.6	26.0	31.0
2000							62,001	100.0	11.5	31.2	26.1	31.2
2001							62,664	100.0	11.5	30.9	26.2	31.4
2002							63,318	100.0	11.6	30.8	25.8	31.8
2003							64,025	100.0	11.7	30.6	25.6	32.1
2004							64,519	100.0	11.5	30.7	25.6	32.3
2005							65,430	100.0	11.5	30.9	25.7	31.9
2006							66,350	100.0	11.5	30.6	25.5	32.3
2007							67,313	100.0	11.2	30.4	25.6	32.9
2008							67,546	100.0	10.9	30.2	25.9	33.0
2009							67,460	100.0	10.8	30.3	25.9	33.0
Footnotes: (1) Data from 1970-1991 are from the March Current Population Survey. The educational attainment categories for these years were based on the number of years of school completed. (2) Data beginning in 1992 are annual averages, and the educational attainment categories are based on the highest diploma or degree received.
SOURCE: Current Population Survey, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Last Modified Date: March 16, 2011

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

tools

calculators

help

info

resources