Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent was 2.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in United States, 2005–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States is 2.5%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 20 years on record.
The figure is up 3.8% on the previous year and up 31.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States peaked at 2.5% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.4%, in 2008.
That places United States 4th out of 55 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 5 |
| 2010s | 1.9% | 1.5% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.3% | 2.2% | 2.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 1.78 million (2023)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 17.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Primary secondary enrollment completion rates, gaps filled 96.97 (2022)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States was 2.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 2.5% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.4% in 2008.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent?
- United States ranks 4th out of 55 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 31.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent education, population 25+ years, urban, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release