What is the average salary for a high-school graduate?

Answer 1

Around 24,390

I make 42K per year, 29 years old and dropped out at 15.

Good job person who is 29 make every drop out think that they can make 42k you are stupid and lucky and should encourage people to graduate and since you never mentioned how much harder it was you probably knew a family member or a friend who gave you a chance that DOESN'T happen and if not then tell everyone how easy it is (sarcasm) without an education be my guest! For those reading this you WILL make 24k or less and since that's the average that means she/he's making 42 and someone else is making 10k but if you're a drop out you won't understand that so get back into school it's hard it's not easy it's your future and when you get out there in the job field you'll make twice as much (and yes I mean 84k twice as much) and you will make that money twice as FAST! I watched my mom struggle (she even graduated) and watched college graduates start off at a salary higher than hers even tho she'd been their for 10 years! Do not go for the easy route cause that's the way you'll be looked at (lazy) for the rest of your life. I worked my butt off and hope you will to. I'm NOT saying it's easy just try!!!!

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Actually in high school they gave us a chart. A high school drop out is around 18 thousand on average. A High school graduate makes 29 thousand a year on average (I honestly think that truck drivers bring up that average). A 2 year degree on average makes 36 thousand a year. a 4 year degree is around 46 thousand a year.

College graduates are quite often chagrined at the successes of those of us who took the "easy way". The fact is, there is a whole world out there that a lot of them are not even aware of. I graduated from high school. I work in the environmental field, operating a vacuum truck. The vast majority of my contemporaries have little or no post secondary education. Depending on overtime, we make between 70 and a 110 K per year. Granted, we are paid exceptionally well, but all the people I know who "only" graduated highs chool make better than 50K and own their own homes. When you see the statistics on income, you have to weigh in everything. There are those on welfare, learning disabilities, addicts, possibly even prisoners heavily weighing down the low end of the spectrum. When you consider this, you can see that the margin of error is much larger on the side of those who don't have a degree. To condemn somebody to a life of low income, just because they don't have a degree is spectacularly naive and just plain incorrect. Consider the many trades people like welders, plumbers etc. Some of them operate their own businesses! Having said all that, I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to drop out of high school. Sure there are success stories, but a high school diploma opens the doors of trade school and is a minimum requirement of a lot of employers.

Consider the following. A university graduate can expect to make about $800,000 more than a high school graduate over a lifetime. The average cost of a degree is about $104,000. $104,000 invested for 50 years at 5% interest will yield nearly 1.4 million dollars. Where is an 18 year old going to get their hands on 100K you ask? Most people with a full time job can get a mortgage that small. Certainly before they are twenty. Maybe it takes a high school graduate to figure that out!

Perhaps youngsters could have easily acquired that kind of money in the past, but not so much anymore! I am even in my mid-twenties, and fall within the top 10% of U.S. income earners, but I was recently denied a 250K mortgage. Note that I did drop out of H.S. and over the years, I've never applied for a credit card, or any other type of credit. Even though I make a substantial amount of money today, I'm simply not considered for a loan since I have no credit. So answer me this... How is an 18 year old going to get a 100K loan when they have but just turned the legal age of which credit can be applied for?

Well thanks much for the insight and answers. Interesting little factoid, my husband has a 2 year degree in a specialist field, and has been in college part time for the last 6 years. I still make double, even though I dropped out of school at 15. It's nice to know I beat the odds. My mother was a college professor and I've got good genes. It's amazing what a brain will get you, and what a degree won't.

You've got to remember though the key determinant depends on the field you are choosing. For example the chart at my University says a social worker with a few years on the job makes only 33k starting out with a 4 year degree, while a accounting with a few years on the job makes 51-53k on average.

I am 32 and have been working in my field for five years. I came in making 46k and now five years later i make 58k. I only have my high school diploma. I am not saying it has been easy. I have worked my but off and have been fortunate enough to have bosses who saw the potential in me and were willing to give me a chance. But to back that up I put in the work in the first place and always rose to the challenges set before me.

Answer 2

Usually nothing for the first few years and then minimum wage for the few hours a week he can put in at the local McDonald's. That is until his parents kick the lazy bum out on the street.

But if he goes to college right out of high school, assuming he puts all of his time into school and homework rather than getting a part time job, he (or she) will earn nothing for at least 4 years, and will take at least the next 10 years catching up on the debt and lost income spent in college. If (s)he gets a job in the field (s)he majored in (unlikely at best). Otherwise it could take more than 25 years to really catch up.

If the student DOES manage to land a job in their chosen field, they still have to start at the bottom of the heap. This assumes that the student didn't excel in sports and get picked up by a pro team and paid some obscene amount of money to spend 3 hours every week working and another 15 or so training, just to play a kid's game for the rest of his active (and need I say, healthy?) life.

What I'm trying to say, is that this question needs to be better thought out and a bit more limited in its scope before an accurate answer can be provided.

- wjs1632 -

Answer 3

As the old saying goes, it pays to go to school. The average yearly income of high school graduates is $29,633 while the average yearly income of those who don't graduate from high school is just $20,743.

Answer 4

More than a non graduate! a whole job more!

Answer 5

i think that an average teacher would make at least 22,000-29,000 a year

Answer 6

A lot more. Even more if you actually do something with your life and go to college....

Answer 7

It depends on the job you have and how long you work. The wages usually range from 8.50 to 10 bucks... unless you're doing private tutor, where you can fix your wage

Answer 8

There are very few places where a high school graduate without a college degree can get a job as a teacher.

Answer 9

$32.00 an hour with a great boss