Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master rural both in United States
United States: Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master rural both was 9.1% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's or equivalent in United States, 2005–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
United States recorded 9.1% for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in 2024. That is the highest value across all 20 years on record.
The figure is up 3.9% on the previous year and up 19.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in United States peaked at 9.1% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 5.9%, in 2005.
That places United States 12th out of 60 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master rural both in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 5.9% | — |
| 2006 | 6.1% | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 6.2% | +2.3% |
| 2008 | 6.5% | +4.3% |
| 2009 | 6.5% | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 6.8% | +3.5% |
| 2011 | 6.8% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 6.8% | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 6.7% | -1.9% |
| 2014 | 7.6% | +14.3% |
| 2015 | 6.9% | -9.7% |
| 2016 | 7.4% | +6.6% |
| 2017 | 7.8% | +5.4% |
| 2018 | 7.3% | -6.3% |
| 2019 | 7.9% | +9.0% |
| 2020 | 8.2% | +3.2% |
| 2021 | 8.5% | +3.5% |
| 2022 | 7.8% | -8.4% |
| 2023 | 8.8% | +13.5% |
| 2024 | 9.1% | +3.9% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 9.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 7.7%, 1.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.2% | 5.9% | 6.5% | 5 |
| 2010s | 7.2% | 6.7% | 7.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.5% | 7.8% | 9.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 96.21 (2022)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 96.02 (2022)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 1.74 million (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 419,732 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 4.34 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 4.14 million (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 25.35 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 23.83 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.33 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in United States?
- Educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in United States was 9.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 9.1% in 2024.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.9% in 2005.
- How does United States rank for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent?
- United States ranks 12th out of 60 countries with data for 2024.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.6%. 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 Master's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, rural, 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