An educated population makes a more attractive workforce and is better prepared to instruct the next generation of residents. High educational attainment represents a region's investment in human capital and preparation for long-term growth.

The proportion of adults in 2018-22 with a bachelor's degree or higher was highest among Asian (75%) and White (60%) people in Westchester, and far lower among African American (36%) and Hispanic (28%) residents.

Westchester had higher shares of adults of all racial/ethnic backgrounds with at least a bachelor's degree than the state and nation. However, compared to the nation, state, and similar counties, Westchester had the largest disparities between the shares of both Hispanic and African American adults compared to the share of White adults with at least a bachelor's degree (32-point and 24-point gaps, respectively).

The proportion of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher increased amongst all racial/ethnic groups from 2008-12 to 2018-22. The largest change was amongst African American and White adults, both increasing by 10 points.

There are a variety of factors believed to contribute to disparities in educational attainment. School systems in the United States are highly segregated, and students of color disproportionately attend schools with high proportions of low-income students who may not have benefited from early learning opportunities at the same rate as other students. Schools also have different levels of resources ranging from qualified/experienced teachers to advanced courses to facilities and technology, and schools with large Black and Latino populations often have lower levels. In addition, teachers across all school systems tend to be disproportionately white, and teaching practices and curriculum may not be culturally relevant to students of color. Low staff expectations at racially and economically segregated schools also contribute disparities in educational attainment. The accumulation of inequities leads to lower graduation rates and college matriculation, with college affordability acting as another barrier. When Black and Latino students enter higher education institutions, they are less likely to attain a college a degree given weaker academic preparation and financial hardship.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability that the true value (if the whole population had reported) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). In practical terms, the race/ethnicity breakdowns are reliable for Westchester County but are increasingly less precise for the outlying counties, largely as a function of population. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.