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Education, Economic Status and Race/Ethnicity in the United States

Legal Education

  Lawyers Law Students U.S. pop. 25+
High School Diploma 100%* 100%* 80.4%
Bachelor's Degree 100%* 100%* 24.4%
High School Diploma 1,027,000 131,000 146,500,000
Bachelor's Degree 1,027,000 131,000 44,460,000   Current U.S. Population
Total 1,027,000 131,000 182,212,000   308,632,000

The above table shows the number of U.S. lawyers and law students according to the ABA. About 1/267 Americans are either lawyers or law students in the United States, which is close to 0.375% of the total population, or roughly 1,158,000 people. This is compared to figures from the 2000 U.S. Census, which shows 80.4% of Americans over the age of 25 have received a high school degree, while 24.4% have attained a bachelors degree. Also shown are current (as of Feb 7 2010) U.S. Census Bureau Population Clock projections. Of all those in the U.S. currently holding bachelor degrees, 2.6% are either a lawyer or J.D. candidate.

Education and Economic Status by Race/Ethnicity

Below are the percentages of Asians, whites, blacks, American Indians, and Hispanics over 25 who hold diplomas and bachelor's degrees. Between 78-89% of the population of these groups have high school diplomas, with the exception of Hispanics, of whom 60% hold diplomas nationwide.

  Asian White Black Hispanic American Indian U.S. Population
Percentages based on 2005-2007 data
High School Diploma 85.6% 88.9% 79.4% 60.0% 78.1% 84.1%
Bachelor's Degree 49.2% 30.0% 16.8% 12.3% 13.4% 27.0%
Percentages based on 2000 Census data
In Labor Force (over 16) 49.57% 51.11% 43.01% 42.02% 44.50% 49.33%
Individuals Below Poverty Line 12.27% 8.91% 23.50% 22.09% 25.47% 12.05%
Single-Family Owner Occupied Homes 13.66% 22.23% 13.12% 9.45% 13.03% 19.62%
Median Value $199,300 $122,800 $80,600 $105,600 $243,091 $119,600
Total Population 10,242,998 211,460,626 34,658,190 35,305,818 1,865,118 281,421,906

87.7% of Americans made less than $100,000 in 2000. 57.9% made less than $50,000. Over ⅕ of non-Asian minorities are living below the poverty level, which does not include families living below that level, of which there were 6.6 million in 2000. In 2008-2009 the poverty line was at $10,830 for individuals and $22,050 for a family of four.

*Assuming lawyers and law students have a bachelors and high school diploma

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r6 - 13 Jan 2012 - 23:13:06 - IanSullivan
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