Share in poverty vs. educational attainment in United States
United States: Share in poverty vs. educational attainment was 13.43 years in 2040. ▲ Rising
Share in poverty vs. educational attainment in United States, 1980–2040
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
United States recorded 13.43 years for share in poverty vs. educational attainment in 2040. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share in poverty vs. educational attainment in United States peaked at 13.43 years in 2040 and was at its lowest, 12.28 years, in 1980.
That places United States 12th out of 146 countries with data for 2040, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 12.31 years | 12.28 years | 12.35 years | 2 |
| 1990s | 12.69 years | 12.55 years | 12.83 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 13.05 years | 13.01 years | 13.1 years | 2 |
| 2010s | 13.27 years | 13.24 years | 13.29 years | 2 |
| 2020s | 13.34 years | 13.32 years | 13.36 years | 2 |
| 2030s | 13.4 years | 13.39 years | 13.41 years | 2 |
| 2040s | 13.43 years | 13.43 years | 13.43 years | 1 |
Countries ranked near United States
More education data for United States
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (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)
- School enrollment, primary 97.0% (2022)
- Primary education, teachers 1.78 million (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.62 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 97.0% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share in poverty vs. educational attainment in United States?
- Share in poverty vs. educational attainment in United States was 13.43 years in 2040, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share in poverty vs. educational attainment recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 13.43 years in 2040.
- What is the lowest share in poverty vs. educational attainment recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.28 years in 1980.
- How does United States rank for share in poverty vs. educational attainment?
- United States ranks 12th out of 146 countries with data for 2040.
- Is share in poverty vs. educational attainment rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share in poverty vs. educational attainment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average years of formal education for individuals aged 15-64.