Increased education attainment has helped raise Kansan's earnings and cut poverty rates when compared to previous education data, according to new U.S. census data for 2021.
The average annual earnings for all Kansans over age 24 was $44,350 in 2021, but the amount differs substantially by education level. Individuals with no high school diploma earned less than $31,000, but those with a high school diploma only earned over $34,000. Individuals that completed some college up to a two-year associate degree earned over $40,000, those with a four-year bachelor's degree earned nearly $56,000 and those with a graduate or professional degree earned just over $67,000.
Over the years, Kansas has reduced the population at lower-paying educational levels and increased the number at higher-paying levels. Since 1990, the percentage of those 25 and older with no high school diploma was cut in half, from 18.7 percent to 8.1 percent.
Kansans with a high school diploma only fell from about one in three to one in four. At the same time, those with some college up to an associate degree increased from 27.3 percent to 31.4 percent, with a bachelor's degree increased from 14.4 percent to 22.0 percent, and with a graduate or professional degree from 7 to 13.4 percent.
At current education levels, Kansans earned $87.4 billion in 2021. Had the workforce been at the same education levels as in 1990, making the same average amount at each level, earnings would be just under $79 billion. That means higher education levels boosted Kansan's income by $8.47 billion compared to 1990 at the same wages.
By comparison, total K-12 education expenditures have increased $3 billion since 1990 when adjusted for inflation. (1990 total expenditures were $4.29 billion in 2021 dollars; 2021 actual total expenditures were $7.34 billion.) In addition, total spending on K-12 dropped from 4.53 percent of total Kansas personal income in 1990 to 4.24 percent in 2021, meaning Kansas is spending a lower share of income on K-12 education than 30 years ago.
This data likely understates the impact of total Kansans' incomes and the state economy because it only deals with earnings, which account for only a portion of total income. However, studies show that families with higher education levels have much higher levels of wealth, which can generate additional income from savings and investments.
We can use the same data to show the impact on poverty. According to the U.S. Census, Kansans who did not complete high school had a poverty rate of 24.1 percent in 2021, which dropped to 14.4 percent for those with a high school diploma only, 9.9 percent for those with some college up to a two-year degree and 4.6 percent for those with a bachelor's degree or higher.
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