What percentile is your education level?

In the US, bachelor's degree holders earn significantly more over their lifetimes than high school graduates. The CPS 2024 data shows 40.1% of women and 37.1% of men now hold at least a bachelor's degree, making the degree itself more common but the earnings premium still substantial. The lifetime earnings difference is estimated at $900,000 to $1.2 million, though this varies considerably by field, institution, and whether the degree was completed without significant debt.

Yes. In the US, 40.1% of women hold a bachelor's or higher vs 37.1% of men (CPS 2024). In the UK, a higher percentage of females are qualified at Levels 2, 3, and 4+ compared to males (LFS Q4 2024). This reversal from historical patterns has emerged over the last two decades, driven by higher female university participation rates in both countries. Among adults aged 25-39 in the US, women now outpace men at bachelor's level by roughly 4-5 percentage points.

According to CPS 2024, 12.5% of women and 10.1% of men aged 25+ hold a master's degree as their highest qualification. When combined with professional degrees (JD, MD) and doctoral degrees, approximately 15.8% of women and 14.1% of men hold a postgraduate qualification. These figures have grown substantially over the past two decades as master's degrees became more common in fields like business, education, healthcare, and public administration.

In April to June 2025, 947,500 individuals aged 16 to 24 in the UK were classified as NEET (not in education, employment, or training), representing 12.8% of that age group (13.1% male, 12.4% female). Source: UK Education and Training Statistics 2025. The NEET rate is a closely watched economic indicator because young people who are NEET for extended periods face significantly worse lifetime employment and earnings outcomes.

In both the US and UK, there is a strong and consistent graduate earnings premium. US Census data shows that full-time workers with a bachelor's degree earn approximately 65% more than those with only a high school diploma. The premium for a master's degree is approximately 20 to 25% above a bachelor's. However, the premium varies significantly by field of study, institution selectivity, gender, and sector. Engineering, computer science, and nursing bachelor's degrees consistently outperform arts and humanities in raw earnings, though graduate satisfaction and career fulfilment do not follow the same pattern.

Approximately 50% of working-age adults aged 19 to 64 in the UK are qualified at Level 4 or above (equivalent to a foundation degree or higher) according to the ONS Labour Force Survey Q4 2024. This represents a substantial expansion from 1993, when approximately 18% of the UK population held a degree-level qualification. The growth reflects the expansion of higher education in the 1990s following the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, which converted polytechnics into universities.

This is the key insight behind cohort-adjusted education percentiles. Among US adults aged 25 to 39, approximately 42.8% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, a cohort that grew up when university attendance was expanding rapidly. Among those aged 55 and over, only approximately 34.2% hold a bachelor's or higher, a cohort with fewer university places and different economic incentives. A bachelor's degree is statistically rarer among older cohorts. An older person with a bachelor's degree is therefore at a higher percentile within their own age group than the same qualification places a younger person.

According to CPS 2024, approximately 8.0% of women and 10.0% of men aged 25+ have less than a high school diploma. An additional group (classified as "some high school, no diploma") brings the total without a formal credential to approximately 10-12% of the adult population. These figures have declined substantially over the past 30 years as high school completion rates improved across all demographic groups, but completion rates remain significantly lower for certain Hispanic and Native American populations.

An associate's degree holder earns approximately 20-25% more than a high school diploma holder in the US, and significantly less than a bachelor's degree holder. According to CPS 2024, 11.6% of women and 9.0% of men hold an associate's as their highest qualification. The return on investment is highly field-dependent: associate's degrees in nursing, dental hygiene, radiography, and some technical trades deliver strong earnings relative to programme cost. Associate's degrees in liberal arts or general studies have much weaker labour market signals.

The OECD Education at a Glance 2024 report shows that the US and UK are above the OECD average for tertiary attainment among adults aged 25-64, with both countries in the 40-50% range. South Korea leads OECD countries for tertiary attainment among younger adults (25-34), at approximately 70%. Germany has notably lower tertiary rates by OECD definition because its vocational training (Ausbildung) system, which is highly developed, does not count as tertiary under OECD classification, though it delivers comparable labour market outcomes. This makes international education comparisons more complicated than raw degree percentage suggests.

On aggregate, yes, but not uniformly. The relationship between education and employment quality is strong at the extremes (no qualifications vs postgraduate) and noisier in the middle. Graduate underemployment, where degree holders work in roles that do not require a degree, affects approximately 40% of recent graduates in their first job (Strada Institute, 2024). This is often temporary, with degree holders eventually moving into roles that better match their qualifications, but the first 3 to 5 years post-graduation can involve significant underutilisation of credentials, particularly in humanities and arts fields.