Facts & Stats

LOCAL STATS

In Palm Beach County:

  • 1 in 7 adults in Palm Beach County lacks basic prose literacy skills (2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy)
  • 13.4 percent of the 907,134 adults age 25 and older do not have a high school diploma (US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey)
  • 24 percent of the total births in Palm Beach County in 2008 were to mothers who had less than a high school diploma (Florida Department of Health)
  • 28 percent of public fourth grade students and 61 percent of public tenth grade students read below grade level (2010 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test)
  • 148 languages and dialects are spoken by students in the public school system (School District of Palm Beach County, 2009)
  • 22.2 percent of the 1.3 million residents are foreign born (US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey)
  • Among people at least five years old, 26.6 percent speak a language other than English in the home (US Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey)

NATIONAL FACTS

  • First quarter 2010 median weekly earnings for full-time workers age 25 and over with less than a high school diploma were $448. For high school graduates the median weekly earnings were $624. Individuals with a bachelor's degree earned $1,140 per week. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • 80 to 90 million United States adults today, about half of the adult workforce, do not have the basic education and communications skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage (2008 Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce)
  • 49 percent of adults who had never attended or did not complete high school have Below Basic health literacy, compared with 15 percent of adults who ended their education with a high school diploma and 3 percent of adults with a bachelor's degree. (2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy) Health literacy is defined by the Institute of Medicine as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.
  • In 2007, 37.3 percent of parents who had less than a high school diploma visited a library with their children. For parents with a bachelor's degree, 57.1 percent visited a library with their children. (Digest of Education Statistics, 200)
  • In 2007, 19.5 percent of parents who had less than a high school diploma volunteered at their children's school. For parents with a bachelor's degree, 57.1 percent volunteered at their children's school. (Digest of Education Statistics, 2009)