Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in United States of America
United States of America: Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent was 2.9% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in United States of America, 2005–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States of America stood at 2.9%. That is the highest value across all 20 years on record.
The figure is up 5.1% on the previous year and up 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States of America peaked at 2.9% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.8%, in 2009.
That places United States of America 4th out of 52 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.
Educational attainment rate, completed Doctoral or equivalent in United States of America, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2.0% | — |
| 2006 | 2.0% | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 1.9% | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 1.9% | -4.1% |
| 2009 | 1.8% | -0.9% |
| 2010 | 2.0% | +8.9% |
| 2011 | 2.1% | +5.2% |
| 2012 | 2.2% | +4.0% |
| 2013 | 2.4% | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 2.5% | +4.4% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | -10.6% |
| 2016 | 2.4% | +8.4% |
| 2017 | 2.5% | +2.6% |
| 2018 | 2.6% | +6.0% |
| 2019 | 2.5% | -2.9% |
| 2020 | 2.6% | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 2.6% | +2.8% |
| 2022 | 2.6% | -2.6% |
| 2023 | 2.7% | +6.1% |
| 2024 | 2.9% | +5.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.9% | 1.8% | 2.0% | 5 |
| 2010s | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States of America
More education data for United States of America
- 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 of America?
- Educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent in United States of America was 2.9% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in United States of America?
- The highest recorded value was 2.9% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent recorded in United States of America?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.8% in 2009.
- How does United States of America rank for educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent?
- United States of America ranks 4th out of 52 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed doctoral or equivalent rising or falling in United States of America?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States of America 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, male (%). 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