Education Data

A summary of the Census Education Data specification.

1.0 Introduction

Education datasets are reported once per year by the United States Census. The data reflect the number of persons per highest level of education achieved. The data sets range from 2015 - to 2020 and have been aggregated to census tracts.

Data reported by the US census, the measures for educational attainment are in reference to the highest level of education that a person has completed. This measure is separate from the level of schooling that an individual is currently attending.

Census Education Parameters: Census.gov

2.0 Data Specification

The following table is the format in which downloaded Education data will be provided:

Field	Type	Description
`geo_id`	String	14-digit code relating the data to the correct geolocation.
`census_tract_code`	String	The unique identifier provided by the US Census for each census tract.
`sub_category`	String	Level of education by grade.
`unit`	String	Total count of persons.
`value`	Float	Number of persons fitting within survey criteria.
`year`	String	Year data was collected.
`county_name`	String	Name of the county that the census tract resides in.
`state_name`	String	Name of the state that the census tract resides in.
`geometry`	String	The GIS information required for the computer to read the mapping file.

💡Tip: The “GEO.ID” field contains 14-digit codes that identify the summary level of data, the geographic component of the data, and FIPS codes that uniquely identify the data. For example, the 14-digit “GEO.ID” for Harris County, TX is “0500000US48201” where “050” represents the summary level of the data, “0000” represents the 2-digit geographic variant, and the 2-digit geographic component, “US” represents the United States, “48” represents the state of Texas and “201” represents Harris County.