ERIC Number: ED605988
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 172
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
What You Make Depends on Where You Live: College Earnings across States and Metropolitan Areas
Winters, John V.
Thomas B. Fordham Institute
This study examines how the "college earnings premium" (CEP)--the difference in average earnings between workers with and without college education--varies across the United States. Specifically, it compares across cities, states, and rural areas the mean earnings of workers with bachelor's degrees to those with associate degrees, with some college, and/or with high school diplomas. John Winters uses individual-level data for the years 2015 through 2017 from the American Community Survey (ACS), which includes annual income, employment, and demographic information for a representative sample of the United States population. He examines three key questions: (1) How do college earnings premiums vary across states and metropolitan areas? (2) How do earnings and college earnings premiums vary by size of metropolitan area and degree of urbanization? and (3) How do college earnings premiums vary by race and ethnicity? What makes this analysis different from previous studies is its emphasis on geographic location. Although individuals with more education typically have higher average earnings regardless of location, the magnitudes of these differences can vary substantially across geographic areas. [Foreword by Amber M. Northern and Michael J. Petrilli.]
Descriptors: College Graduates, Income, Education Work Relationship, Geographic Location, Metropolitan Areas, Educational Attainment, Academic Degrees, Racial Differences, Ethnicity, High School Graduates, Salary Wage Differentials, Labor Market, Profiles, Tables (Data)
Thomas B. Fordham Institute. 1701 K Street NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20006. Tel: 202-223-5452; Fax: 202-223-9226; e-mail: thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org; Web site: https://fordhaminstitute.org/
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Lumina Foundation; Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
Authoring Institution: Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A