This issue of 5th District Footprint discusses changes in educational attainment in the Fifth District between 1990 and 2012. Human capital accumulation, such as the awarding of a bachelor’s degree, has long been thought of as a potential pathway to economic mobility. Data show that individuals who attain higher levels of education earn more on average than those with less education.1
In 1990, 20.3 percent of people 25 years and over in the U.S. had at least a bachelor’s degree.2 In 2012, the national rate climbed to 28.5 percent, a change of 8.2 percentage points.3 Within the Fifth District, the 1990 state rates ranged from a low of 10.1 percent (West Virginia) to a high of 19.6 (Maryland). The 2012 state rates ranged from a low of 14.4 percent (West Virginia) to a high of 29.2 percent (Maryland). For the District of Columbia, its 1990 rate was 33.3 percent rising to 51.2 percent in 2012.
Within the Fifth District, Falls Church City, Va. had the highest share of people 25 years and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher in 1990 (52.8 percent) and 2012 (72.8 percent). Grayson County, Va. (4.2 percent) and McDowell County, W.Va. (5.7 percent) had the lowest share in 1990 and 2012, respectively.
Looking at the county-level changes in educational attainment between 1990 and 2012, Loudoun County, Va. had the largest absolute growth from 32.7 percent to 57.9 percent -- an increase of 25.2 percentage points. The largest decline occurred in Essex County, Va. from 16.4 to 14.8 -- a decline of 1.6 percentage points.