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High school graduates who work full time had median weekly earnings of $718 in second quarter

July 21, 2017

Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and older were $909 in the second quarter of 2017. Full-time workers without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $515, compared with $718 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,189 for those with a bachelor's degree. Full-time workers with advanced degrees (professional or master's degree and above) had median weekly earnings of $1,451.

 

 

Selected percentiles of usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and older by educational attainment, 2nd quarter 2017 averages, not seasonally adjusted
Characteristic 10th percentile 25th percentile 50th percentile (median) 75th percentile 90th percentile

Total

$431 $606 $909 $1,420 $2,147

Less than a high school diploma

330 404 515 724 999

High school graduates, no college

395 515 718 1,021 1,489

Some college or associate degree

427 581 799 1,152 1,637

Bachelor's degree only

580 802 1,189 1,819 2,609

Advanced degree

719 1,005 1,451 2,205 3,156

Men

458 645 995 1,565 2,384

Less than a high school diploma

361 422 583 787 1,065

High school graduates, no college

418 574 797 1,155 1,661

Some college or associate degree

472 633 917 1,326 1,877

Bachelor's degree only

614 906 1,375 2,022 2,909

Advanced degree

768 1,140 1,732 2,522 3,784

Women

412 567 824 1,239 1,878

Less than a high school diploma

301 376 444 572 793

High school graduates, no college

371 470 620 847 1,156

Some college or associate degree

406 522 707 984 1,366

Bachelor's degree only

539 738 1,030 1,517 2,108

Advanced degree

673 919 1,270 1,882 2,610

The lowest paid 10 percent of workers with advanced degrees made $719 or less per week. That was about the same as the median earnings—the 50th percentile—of high school graduates who had never attended college. Among full-time workers with advance degrees, the highest earning 10 percent—the 90th percentile—of men made $3,784 or more per week, compared with $2,610 or more for the 90th percentile of women.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are not seasonally adjusted. For more information, see “Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers — Second Quarter 2017” (HTML) (PDF). Full-time workers are those who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job. The median is the midpoint in an earnings distribution; half of workers have earnings above the median and the other half have earnings below the median. The 10th percentile is the point in the earnings distribution at which 10 percent have lower earnings and 90 percent have higher earnings. The 90th percentile is the point in the earnings distribution at which 90 percent have lower earnings and 10 percent have higher earnings.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, High school graduates who work full time had median weekly earnings of $718 in second quarter at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/high-school-graduates-who-work-full-time-had-median-weekly-earnings-of-718-in-second-quarter.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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