Educational attainment—the highest educational level a person achieves—varies across the country. Some counties are rich in people with professional and advanced degrees. Other counties are mostly filled with people who only finished high school. Education levels greatly affect the economic, social, and cultural life of a county.
Below is a map showing three different levels of educational attainment: high school, bachelors, and graduate levels. The map shows the proportion of residents over the age of 25 who have achieved a certain level of education. Green circles represent counties that have greater proportions of that educational achievement. Red circles represent counties with a smaller proportion of that educational achievement. Black circles show counties that are nearly equal. Explore the map by hovering and clicking on counties or by searching for your county using the search feature.
Data from American Community Survey from the US Census (link).
County home to both Harvard University and MIT.
Wealthiest county by median household income—$119,000.
Poorest county by median household income—$12,692.
Largest county in US by population.
County near the median for educational attainment.
Visualization by Alex Sciuto. Based on a tutorial by Mike Bostock.