Private industry nonprofit workers had the highest levels of formal education in 2022

Among people age 25 and over, private industry nonprofit workers had the most formal education in 2022, when compared with private for-profit, government, and self-employed workers. Of these private nonprofit workers, 21.3 percent had some college or an associate degree, 31.9 percent held a bachelor’s degree, and 32.7 percent held a master’s degree or higher. Less than 15 percent had a high school diploma or less. People with a high school diploma or less accounted for 35.3 percent of private for-profit workers age 25 and over, 32.2 percent of the self-employed, and 17.1 percent of government workers. Among government workers, 60.0 percent held a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

In 2022, women had median earnings that were $196 less per week than men. Median usual weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers were $1,154 for men, compared with $958 for women. Full-time workers are workers who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job. Median weekly earnings in private industry nonprofit organizations were $1,347 for men and $1,101 for women.

This information is a snapshot of the Spotlight on Statistics: For-Profit, Nonprofit, and Government Sector Jobs in 2022. The Spotlight examines various employment arrangements the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls “class, or classification, of worker” including private nonprofit, private for-profit, self-employed, and government. Find out how each class of worker compares in the areas of age, sex, race and ethnicity, number of hours worked, occupation and industry types, veteran workers, and union membership. Data are from the Current Population Survey, a monthly nationwide sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. The survey does not include people living in institutions or those on active duty in the Armed Forces.