The Average Net Worth of People With and Without a College Degree

John Csiszar

Tue, May 13, 2025, 12:56 PM 3 min read

Numerous factors spell into gathering nett worth, from hard enactment to accidental to astute investing and more. But 1 of the champion predictors of your nett worthy is the level of acquisition you achieve.

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Higher acquisition tin lend to your net worth successful a fig of ways, from boosting your accomplishment acceptable and wide cognition to connecting you to a web of supportive alumni and donors.

In galore cases, having a assemblage grade is simply a baseline request for accessing higher-paying, nonrecreational jobs, truthful the quality successful nett worthy makes sense. But you whitethorn beryllium amazed astatine however large the gulf is betwixt Americans with and without a assemblage degree.

Also absorbing to enactment is how large the spread is crossed each acquisition levels successful presumption of median and mean incomes. As a tiny fig of highly affluent individuals tin skew the averages overmuch higher, the median income whitethorn beryllium a much due measurement of however overmuch the “average” American earns.

Here’s a look astatine the average nett worth for Americans with varying acquisition backgrounds. Data is drawn from the astir precocious published Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, which was published successful Oct. 2023.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those with nary precocious schoolhouse diploma besides had the lowest median and mean incomes, astatine $38,100 and $175,600, respectively. That $38,100 median income is little than fractional the nationalist median household income, according to the Federal Reserve.

Americans with a precocious schoolhouse diploma person much than triple the median nett worthy of those without, astatine $106,800. The mean nett worthy jumps up to $413,300.

Completing immoderate level of assemblage — but without getting a afloat grade — doesn’t boost nett worthy levels by a tremendous amount, though determination is inactive a notable increase. The spread successful median nett worthy betwixt those completing immoderate assemblage and those with a precocious schoolhouse diploma is conscionable $29,700, portion the quality successful mean nett worth, $541,100 vs. $413,300, is conscionable $127,800. While those are inactive important amounts, the differences aren’t arsenic stark arsenic the leap from nary precocious schoolhouse diploma to diploma, oregon from “some college” to getting a assemblage degree.

Getting a assemblage grade is wherever the existent wealth is made successful presumption of nett worth. The median nett worthy of those with a assemblage grade is $464,600, much than 3x arsenic overmuch arsenic those with “some college” and much than 12x arsenic overmuch arsenic those with no precocious schoolhouse diploma.