NC in Focus: Adult educational attainment, 2014

According to the 2014 American Community Survey, there were nearly 6.7 million adults ages 25 and older living in North Carolina. More than 1.9 million, or 29%, of these adults had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Across North Carolina’s 14 largest metropolitan regions, adult educational attainment varied significantly. Fewer than 20% of adults had completed a bachelor’s degree in three metropolitan regions: Rocky Mount (15%), Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton (18%), and Jacksonville (19%). At the other end of the distribution, five metropolitan areas were well above the state average; in the Triangle Region (Durham-Chapel Hill and Raleigh), Wilmington, Charlotte, and Asheville, at least one in every three adults has a bachelor’s degree or more.