According to the Census Bureau, two-thirds of US adults 25 and older don’t have a four-year college degree (or higher), as per this chart:
That sounds like a problem, but it isn’t. For one thing, a lot of well-paying jobs don’t require a college degree. For another, there’s strong employer demand for many of these jobs (Manpower Group, 2018). For yet another, many in-demand jobs would be hard to automate - think plumber or industrial mechanic - so they really offer long-term career potential. Plus consider that over two-thirds of American households reach the top 20% of the income distribution for at least a year (Hirschl and Rank, 2015). Since most households in the upper half of the income distribution have two or more earners and only a third of Americans have a college degree, it stands to mathematical calculation that most of the earners in these households do not have a college degree.
Yet the Census Bureau also says that workers with less than a high school diploma make an average of just $27,800 a year and those with no more than a high school diploma make an average of just $36,700 a year. Not exactly middle-class incomes. What gives?
What gives is partly a matter of age: young adults drag the average earnings down. There’s also the matter of comparing apples to oranges. The Census Bureau tends to treat income as an attribute of households, not individual earners. In 2017, a household income of $50K would count as middle-class* in most places in this country, so it’s quite possible for two low-wage earners to qualify as middle class as long as they are members of the same household.
Of course, few people want to settle for a low-wage job. So what’s a non-college graduate to do? One thing is to complete a certificate job training program, which can almost double the earning potential of individuals without a high school diploma. Check it out:
Care of the Bureau of Labor Statistics/Occupational Outlook Handbook, here are a few occupations that don’t require a college degree but typically do require some kind of post-secondary education certificate, along with their median earnings:
Ophthalmic medical technicians $35,000 to $54,999
Medical records and health information technicians $35,000 to $54,999
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses $35,000 to $54,999
Insurance appraisers, auto damage $55,000 to $74,999
Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay $75,000 or more
Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment $55,000 to $74,999
Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment $55,000 to $74,999
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic $35,000 to $54,999
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians $55,000 to $74,999
Surgical technologists $35,000 to $54,999
Note that ‘median’ earnings is just the middle-range of earnings. In other words, half the people working in the above occupations make more money than what’s listed.
None of this is to say it’s ok to drop out of high school. If you can, get your GED. If you can, get your training certificate at a community college, where you can also accumulate college credits. Completing high school and college classes look good on the resume. They signal persistence, a trait highly valued by employers.
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* For the purpose of this post, I’m defining “middle-class” as within the middle income quintile ($47,110-$77,552), knowing full well it’s more complicated than that.
Links and References:
Hirschl TA, Rank MR (2015) The Life Course Dynamics of Affluence. PLOS ONE 10(1): e0116370. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0116370 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0116370
Manpower Group’s 2018 Talent Shortage Survey.
Measuring Alternative Educational Credentials: 2012 Household Economic Studies By Stephanie Ewert and Robert Kominski/Census Bureau Issued January 2014 P70-138.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
The O*NET Program is the nation's primary source of occupational information, containing detailed information on almost 1,000 occupations in the US. https://www.onetonline.org/
State Labor Market Information Websites: https://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/geography/lmi-usa.html