Educational Attainment

Education Levels of Residents Comparable to California

Why is it important?

Adults with more education are more productive, earn higher incomes and have broader employment options than less-educated adults.5 As the link between skills and opportunity grows ever stronger, individuals without advanced education are likely to be left further behind. People need a solid high school education plus at least two years of college to learn the skills needed for today’s professions: how to identify and solve problems, work effectively in groups, and understand systems. When entrepreneurs look for a place to grow their business, they are attracted to places where the level of education indicates the quality and diversity of the labor pool.

How are we doing?

In the Sierra Nevada, a higher concentration of high school graduates and a lower concentration of college graduates live here compared to California. Every subregion has a relatively large number of high school graduates, with the North Central Sierra leading the way at 90 percent. In California only 78 percent of people have graduated from high school.
In terms of college education, only the North Central Sierra is comparable to California. For the remainder of the Sierra, only 18 percent of the population has a Bachelor's degree compared to 28 percent in California. The North Central Sierra led all subregions in every category of educational attainment.

5 Jenkins, L.B.; Kirsch, I.S. 1994. Adult literacy in California: results of the state adult literacy survey. Sacramento: California Department of Education. http://www.otan.dni.us.

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