Education Levels

Country	Edu1	Edu2	Average Edu	Per Capita GDP
Table 1
Education and Income (Selection of Countries)
Albania	65.3	64.6	65.0	13,364
Australia	90.0	86.9	88.4	51,663
Bahrain	68.9	71.4	70.2	47,303
Bangladesh	50.7	46.6	48.6	4,372
Bermuda	96.4	95.8	96.1	58,305
Bolivia	59.8	54.7	57.3	7,873
Brazil	56.2	57.4	56.8	16,096
Cayman Islands	97.0	97.4	97.2	72,608
Congo, Dem. Rep.	40.3	41.0	40.6	932
Cote d'Ivoire	40.4	37.1	38.7	4,207
Cyprus	89.1	86.2	87.6	36,155
Denmark	93.0	91.5	92.2	55,671
El Salvador	43.9	43.5	43.7	8,332
Finland	86.2	87.9	87.1	48,417
France	76.9	81.8	79.3	45,342
Germany	88.0	93.6	90.8	53,075
Greece	68.3	66.7	67.5	29,592
Guatemala	42.6	40.6	41.6	8,462
Indonesia	46.4	47.1	46.8	13,080
Iran, Islamic Rep.	63.2	60.9	62.0	21,011
Israel	96.9	93.2	95.0	39,919
Korea, Rep.	81.7	82.8	82.3	40,112
Kuwait	48.6	44.3	46.5	72,898
Mauritius	53.6	55.5	54.6	23,751
Mexico	53.2	48.6	50.9	19,845
Moldova	73.8	79.3	76.5	7,272
Mongolia	72.9	74.3	73.6	13,800
Mozambique	32.5	27.1	29.8	1,460
Netherlands	87.8	84.3	86.1	56,329
New Zealand	82.8	80.3	81.6	41,005
Norway	89.6	91.2	90.4	65,511
Oman	57.5	60.7	59.1	41,860
Pakistan	44.4	42.7	43.6	5,567
Panama	58.1	55.0	56.6	25,554
Paraguay	58.4	55.8	57.1	13,600
Philippines	63.7	65.7	64.7	8,951
Saudi Arabia	69.3	63.7	66.5	55,336
Sweden	87.4	91.3	89.3	53,209
Switzerland	106.3	102.2	104.2	68,061
Trinidad and Tobago	61.4	65.5	63.4	32,015
United Kingdom	97.3	97.6	97.4	45,974
United States	100.0	100.0	100.0	63,701
Uruguay	49.0	45.0	47.0	23,572
West Bank and Gaza	59.8	54.2	57.0	5,158
Source: Source: World Bank and Economic no nonsense calculations.

	Income	Education
Table 2
Education Level and Income in the United States
(Native Population)
Alabama	48,594	89.6
Alaska	77,385	99.2
Arizona	58,384	99.5
Arkansas	45,826	87.3
California	76,127	106.5
Colorado	70,831	113.0
Connecticut	78,218	111.3
Delaware	65,331	98.4
District of Columbia	83,361	141.0
Florida	54,944	97.5
Georgia	55,713	97.2
Hawaii	79,606	103.9
Idaho	53,727	95.5
Illinois	64,304	104.0
Indiana	54,714	90.9
Iowa	59,149	95.0
Kansas	58,214	102.4
Kentucky	48,505	88.5
Louisiana	48,097	86.5
Maine	55,643	98.2
Maryland	82,365	111.4
Massachusetts	79,977	116.8
Michigan	54,775	95.7
Minnesota	69,652	104.7
Mississippi	43,499	86.1
Missouri	53,656	95.1
Montana	52,608	98.6
Nebraska	60,325	100.6
Nevada	59,626	94.1
New Hampshire	74,468	105.6
New Jersey	81,920	107.8
New Mexico	49,611	97.7
New York	68,280	109.3
North Carolina	52,808	97.5
North Dakota	64,236	95.1
Ohio	54,574	93.3
Oklahoma	52,007	91.0
Oregon	60,113	103.8
Pennsylvania	59,710	96.4
Rhode Island	66,493	104.4
South Carolina	51,191	93.1
South Dakota	56,992	94.7
Tennessee	51,133	91.3
Texas	62,577	97.3
Utah	70,210	104.7
Vermont	60,343	106.4
Virginia	70,815	108.3
Washington	70,793	105.5
West Virginia	44,808	82.9
Wisconsin	59,540	96.5
Wyoming	62,725	96.0
United States	60,968	100.0
Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Economic no nonsense calculations.

Education Levels

January 26, 2020

It is difficult to determine what the level of formal education on an individual is. It is more difficult on a country. Nonetheless an attempt has been made using the latest available data at www.worldbank.org. This level of formal education refers to the average education endowment of the population in terms of quantity rather than quality. To construct the scale a larger relative value is given to higher levels of formal education. To conduct the estimates 45 points are assigned to graduate degrees, 25 to bachelor's, 25 to associate's plus high school and 5 to less than high school. Then a base country is chosen, the United States, and a value of 100 is calculated on its educational level becoming the benchmark to compare other countries with. This produces the scalars necessary to standardize the level in each country.

On this small sample of 45 countries the United States compares favorably (Table 1). The sample is reduced because the data is not available in many cases and in others due to significant inconsistencies. The results seem to be in line with conventional thought in the sense that a wealthier country can afford more education or conversely that a "better" educated population leads to a relatively more affluent one. The correlation coefficient for this sample of countries is 0.76. Until now, the main inputs of production are labor and capital. More education should lead to an enhanced human capital stock and a higher level of output. This is confirmed by the close correlation between education and real income, whether at the individual or aggregate levels. Technology really is how labor is able to transform or use available resources in a more productive way.

The level of education was also calculated for every state using the same methodology. The highest educational level is observed in the District of Columbia. This is largely because is a city where there is a larger concentration of highly educated residents when compared to other areas and the location of the main Executive, Judicial and Legislative institutions that require exceptionally skilled workers.

Earnings seem to reflect the situation of significant remuneration difference in accordance with the type of field selected. The American Community Survey estimates that the median earnings of the male population 25 years and over were 42% larger than those of females, confirming that the disparity in earnings between females and males could be related to the type of educational field chosen.

All the states are above the average 69 level of the country sample although there are significant differences between them. The range is 32 without D.C. and 57 with it. The relationship between higher levels of education and income observed at the country level also applies at the state level (Table 2) in the United States. In effect, there is a positive correlation coefficient of 0.79 between the two variables. There can be other factors correlated with income but education is closely associated with it. However, the question may be asked again regarding whether high income levels lead to more education or the opposite; if better and more formal education lead to greater productivity and earnings. The answer seems clear.