About this application: This application provides summary profiles showing frequently requested data items from various US Census Bureau programs. Profiles are available for the nation, states, and counties.
Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018 - (Percent)
County
Value
Alamance
24.0
Alexander
14.7
Alleghany
16.7
Anson
9.6
Ashe
19.0
Avery
20.6
Beaufort
19.4
Bertie
13.4
Bladen
15.1
Brunswick
28.6
Buncombe
39.2
Burke
16.6
Cabarrus
31.2
Caldwell
15.3
Camden
17.9
Carteret
28.4
Caswell
15.5
Catawba
21.9
Chatham
41.3
Cherokee
19.2
Chowan
19.8
Clay
22.8
Cleveland
17.4
Columbus
13.1
Craven
25.7
Cumberland
25.0
Currituck
23.1
Dare
33.0
Davidson
18.5
Davie
22.9
Duplin
11.1
Durham
47.5
Edgecombe
12.7
Forsyth
33.8
Franklin
21.3
Gaston
20.6
Gates
14.4
Graham
13.5
Granville
22.3
Greene
10.5
Guilford
35.3
Halifax
14.4
Harnett
20.7
Haywood
25.0
Henderson
31.8
Hertford
14.6
Hoke
18.4
Hyde
9.4
Iredell
27.5
Jackson
30.5
Johnston
21.8
Jones
13.1
Lee
20.9
Lenoir
14.5
Lincoln
21.4
Macon
24.2
Madison
27.6
Martin
16.8
McDowell
16.9
Mecklenburg
44.8
Mitchell
18.8
Montgomery
14.7
Moore
36.9
Nash
20.9
New Hanover
39.3
Northampton
12.8
Onslow
21.4
Orange
57.6
Pamlico
19.4
Pasquotank
20.5
Pender
26.4
Perquimans
20.4
Person
15.3
Pitt
31.8
Polk
31.7
Randolph
15.8
Richmond
13.9
Robeson
13.2
Rockingham
15.0
Rowan
18.7
Rutherford
17.3
Sampson
12.8
Scotland
15.5
Stanly
15.8
Stokes
13.3
Surry
16.8
Swain
16.0
Transylvania
31.5
Tyrrell
9.7
Union
34.8
Vance
12.9
Wake
51.8
Warren
15.5
Washington
11.3
Watauga
41.6
Wayne
19.5
Wilkes
15.5
Wilson
19.6
Yadkin
11.3
Yancey
20.0
Value for North Carolina (Percent): 30.5%
Data item: Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS), 5-Year Estimates. The PRCS is part of the Census Bureau's ACS, customized for Puerto Rico. Both Surveys are updated every year.
Definition
High School Graduates include people whose highest degree was a high school diploma or its equivalent, people who attended college but did not receive a degree, and people who received an associate's, bachelor's, master's, or professional or doctorate degree. People who reported completing the 12th grade but not receiving a diploma are not included. Persons with a Bachelor's Degree or Higher are those who have received a bachelor's degree from a college or university, or a master's, professional, or doctorate degree. For the complete definition, go to ACS subject definitions "Educational Attainment."
These data include only persons 25 years old and over. The percentages are obtained by dividing the counts of graduates by the total number of persons 25 years old and over.
Source and Accuracy
This Fact is based on data collected in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS) conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. A sample of over 3.5 million housing unit addresses is interviewed each year over a 12 month period. This Fact (estimate) is based on five years of ACS and PRCS sample data and describes the average value of person, household and housing unit characteristics over this period of collection.
Statistics from all surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. Sampling error is the uncertainty between an estimate based on a sample and the corresponding value that would be obtained if the estimate were based on the entire population (as from a census). Measures of sampling error are provided in the form of margins of error for all estimates included with ACS and PRCS published products. The Census Bureau recommends that data users incorporate this information into their analyses, as sampling error in survey estimates could impact the conclusions drawn from the results. The data for each geographic area are presented together with margins of error at Using margins of error. A more detailed explanation of margins of error and a demonstration of how to use them is provided below.
For more information on sampling and estimation methodology, confidentiality, and sampling and nonsampling errors, please see the Multiyear Accuracy (US) and the Multiyear Accuracy (Puerto Rico) documents at "Documentation - Accuracy of the data."
Margin of Error
As mentioned above, ACS estimates are based on a sample and are subject to sampling error. The margin of error measures the degree of uncertainty caused by sampling error. The margin of error is used with an ACS estimate to construct a confidence interval about the estimate. The interval is formed by adding the margin of error to the estimate (the upper bound) and subtracting the margin of error from the estimate (the lower bound). It is expected with 90 percent confidence that the interval will contain the full population value of the estimate. The following example is for demonstrating purposes only. Suppose the ACS reported that the percentage of people in a state who were 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree was 21.3 percent and that the margin of error associated with this estimate was 0.7 percent. By adding and subtracting the margin of error from the estimate, we calculate the 90-percent confidence interval for this estimate:
Therefore, we can be 90 percent confident that the percent of the population 25 years and older having a bachelor's degree in a state falls somewhere between 20.6 percent and 22.0 percent.
