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.
High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018 - (Percent)
County
Value
Alamance
85.5
Alexander
81.6
Alleghany
76.6
Anson
80.5
Ashe
84.2
Avery
82.3
Beaufort
87.6
Bertie
78.7
Bladen
80.1
Brunswick
90.4
Buncombe
91.0
Burke
80.9
Cabarrus
90.0
Caldwell
79.7
Camden
85.6
Carteret
91.1
Caswell
79.5
Catawba
85.2
Chatham
88.2
Cherokee
86.3
Chowan
84.0
Clay
88.5
Cleveland
84.0
Columbus
81.6
Craven
88.2
Cumberland
90.7
Currituck
89.2
Dare
93.3
Davidson
83.4
Davie
86.7
Duplin
74.2
Durham
88.4
Edgecombe
79.7
Forsyth
88.8
Franklin
84.1
Gaston
84.7
Gates
86.3
Graham
81.0
Granville
84.2
Greene
74.1
Guilford
89.1
Halifax
77.5
Harnett
86.3
Haywood
88.1
Henderson
89.9
Hertford
79.2
Hoke
86.0
Hyde
81.6
Iredell
89.0
Jackson
88.4
Johnston
86.3
Jones
81.6
Lee
83.4
Lenoir
80.4
Lincoln
85.6
Macon
88.6
Madison
85.4
Martin
83.3
McDowell
83.8
Mecklenburg
90.1
Mitchell
84.5
Montgomery
79.3
Moore
90.4
Nash
85.4
New Hanover
92.9
Northampton
79.5
Onslow
91.2
Orange
92.7
Pamlico
88.0
Pasquotank
86.5
Pender
87.5
Perquimans
86.5
Person
86.3
Pitt
89.4
Polk
90.9
Randolph
81.4
Richmond
80.3
Robeson
77.1
Rockingham
82.6
Rowan
85.3
Rutherford
82.6
Sampson
77.7
Scotland
79.8
Stanly
85.1
Stokes
83.5
Surry
78.3
Swain
78.3
Transylvania
88.6
Tyrrell
75.5
Union
89.8
Vance
80.0
Wake
92.7
Warren
80.5
Washington
79.9
Watauga
89.5
Wayne
84.1
Wilkes
78.6
Wilson
80.3
Yadkin
81.0
Yancey
84.2
Value for North Carolina (Percent): 87.4%
Data item: High school graduate 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 errors. 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.
