The United States Census Bureau has recently released new data on the characteristics of Americans with bachelor’s degrees and their median annual earnings, including insights into racial disparities by field of study.
In 2022, 35.7 percent of adults over the age of 25 in the United States held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Among these individuals, 68.5 percent were White, 8.1 percent were Black, 9.9 percent were Asian, 4.3 percent were multiracial or some other race, and 9 percent were of Hispanic origin.
Fields of study with an overrepresentation of Black degree holders were social work (16.2 percent), criminal justice and fire protection (15.5 percent), sociology (13.8 percent), and business administration and management (12.0 percent). In contrast, Black bachelor’s degree holders were particularly underrepresented in the fields of mechanical engineering (3.6 percent), civil engineering (4.5 percent), and history (5.0 percent).
In 2022, Black American bachelor’s degree holders had an average median income of $62,000, compared to $76,430 for their White counterparts and $91,190 for their Asian peers. Across nearly all fields of study (except nursing and elementary education), Black Americans earned less, on average, than their White and Asian peers with the same degree. Racial disparities were particularly pronounced in high-earning fields, such as engineering disciplines. Among individuals with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Black Americans earned just 64 cents for every one dollar earned by Asian Americans.
Racial earnings disparities were found even in fields where Black Americans were overrepresented. For example, among Americans who held a bachelor’s degree in social work, Black Americans’ average income was $54,160, compared to $56,040 for their White peers and $61,930 for their Asian peers.
