By the Numbers

Education
32%
Percent of women 25 to 29 who had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2005, which exceeded that of men in this age range (25 percent). Eighty-seven percent of women and 85 percent of men in this same age range had completed high school.
85.4%
Percent of women 25 or older who had completed high school as of 2005. High school graduation rates for women continued to exceed those of men (84.9 percent).
26.1 million
Number of women 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or more education in 2005, more than double the number 20 years earlier.
27%
Percent of women 25 or older who had obtained a bachelor’s degree as of 2005. This rate was up 10.5 percentage points from 20 years earlier.
Earnings
$32,168
The median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full time, in 2005. Women earned 77 cents for every $1 earned by men.
91 cents
The amount women in the District of Columbia, who worked year-round, full time, earned for every $1 their male counterparts earned in 2005. Among all states or state equivalents, the district was where women were closest to earnings parity with men. Maryland and Connecticut were the only states where median earnings for women were above $40,000, as was the District of Columbia.
$58,906
Median earnings of women working in computer and mathematical jobs, the highest for women among the 22 major occupational groups. Among these groups, community and social services was the only group where women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings were higher than 90 percent.