Deciding to further your education is a big investment.  Just like any other investment, it is important to think about the payout.  

Here is, on average, how much extra income you will have for the rest of your life if you decide to make this leap. The table below shows you exactly how much more money you could expect to have in each state by upping your education one level: from High School  to Associate’s, from  Associate’s degree to Bachelor’s, from Bachelor’s to Master’s, and from Master’s to Doctorate.

To determine the worth you would get from furthering your education in every state, we looked at the median income in each state in 2017 for adults 67 or younger, the median student debt of graduates at each education level in 2017*, and the 2019 student loan interest rate for undergraduate and graduate federal loans.

The Marginal Benefit of Each Degree by State

Some Interesting Anomalies

In Vermont, there is a cost of getting a bachelor’s compared to an Associates degree.  This could be due to:

• • The small sample size in Vermont.
  • The population in Vermont aging faster than that of the rest of the U.S., combined with the labor opportunities in the last 60 years being less focused on advanced degrees in the state. (So lifetime income estimated on an older population that is less likely to have gotten a Bachelor’s). Vermont’s 2018 State Plan on aging projects that by 2030, 1 in 4 residents will be over the age of 65. 
  • This large number of retirees moving to the state, with the limited younger population moving in, could be skewing the results. This is because people age 67 or younger with a Bachelor’s degree who are retired would be reporting no income or low income if they take on part time jobs instead of continuing to work full time, therefore suppressing the lifetime income.
  • This result might be short lived since in 2018 Vermont was listed as a state with growing opportunities for jobs with great benefits which can attract a younger more competitive population of workers.

In Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming there is a cost to getting a Doctoral degree compared to a Master’s. This could be because:

• •  There’s a limited demand for only PhD level experience in these states, which would drive wages down. 
  • There is also a limited sample size of these states’ populations with PhD degrees, which can make the data inconclusive. 

The Bottom Line

In most cases, and in most states, a higher degree will net you more cash over your working life. But it’s worth thinking about how much more you’ll actually make, and how far a dollar really goes where you live.

It’s also important to weigh whether or not a higher degree in your field, specifically, will be worth the investment. Not sure? For more guidance on that topic, check out our blog post that explains how to know if grad school is the right decision.

Sources: American Community Survey 2017, U.S. Dept. of Ed College Scorecard Preliminary Loan Debt Data, U.S. Dept. of Ed Federal Student Aid Office, Bureau of Economic Advisors

*Note: We decided to take the median national debt and subtract it from the lifetime income in each state instead of the median state debt.  We felt this was more fitting for the current generation, which is much more likely to move across state lines compared to previous generations.