By
Robert Longley
Updated October 20, 2019
How much more is higher education worth in cold hard money than a high school diploma? Plenty.
Men with a graduate degree earned more than $1.5 million in lifetime earnings than those with just a high school diploma, according to 2015 statistics from the
Social Security Administration. Women earn $1.1 million more.
A previous report by
U.S. Census Bureau titled "
The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings" noted:
"The large differences in average work-life earnings among the educational levels reflect both differential starting salaries and also disparate earnings trajectories, that is, the path of earnings over one’s life."
The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures from 2017 show median weekly wages progressively increasing with educational attainment:
- Professional degree: $1,836
- Doctoral degree: $1,743
- Master's degree: $1,401
- Bachelor's degree: $1,173
- Associate's degree: $836
- Some college, no degree: $774
- High school diploma, no college: $712
- Less than a high school diploma: $520
"At most ages, more education equates with higher earnings, and the payoff is most notable at the highest educational levels," said Jennifer Cheeseman Day, co-author of the report.
Who Earns the Most?
It's not surprising that doctors and engineers do best. According to the BLS, anesthesiologists, surgeons, obstetrician-gynecologists, orthodontists, and psychiatrists all make well over $200,000 a year. Even general physicians, chief executives, dentists, nurse anesthetists, pilots and flight engineers, and petroleum engineers all make $175,000–$200,000.
Still in the six-figure category are: information system managers, podiatrists, architectural and engineering managers, marketing managers, financial managers, attorneys, sales managers, natural sciences managers, and compensation and benefits managers.
Of course, most people pursue their passion rather than the dollar when looking at career options, though earning potential is often a factor for many.