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

Legal Education

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 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.

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.