Education a sporadic gauge of Utah financial success

Education is the key to financial success, right?

That depends.

While educational attainment plays a large factor in determining income, the most and least educated people in the state do not match up with the highest and lowest paid, according to Census 2000 results released Tuesday.

White men, who ranked third on a list of demographic groups for education, were the highest-paid people in the state in 1999, according to the 2000 Census. The group whose income levels most closely matched its education levels, Asian men, came in first for education, second for income. But the second-most educated group, Asian women, ranked eighth for median income among six selected races.

The median income for white males who worked full-time, year-round jobs was $38,120, some $18,000 more than the lowest paid in Utah: Hispanic women, with a median income of $20,004.

"Everyone across the board is doing better in 2000 than they were in 1990," said Neil Ashdown, deputy director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. "While there is still a gap . . . I think we're making progress and the gap is beginning to close."

The 2000 Census shows education levels clustered by race; income levels by gender.

The group with the highest percentage of bachelor's degrees was Asian men, followed by Asian women. Then came white men, followed by white women. Fifth and sixth were black women and black men; seventh and eighth were Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander women and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander men.

Among full-time, year-round workers, the top five groups for median income were all male: white men, followed by Asian men, black men, American Indian and Alaska Native men and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander men. White women, black women and Asian women were sixth, seventh and eighth, followed by Hispanic men and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander women.

Because income rankings were based on full-time, year-round workers, stay-at-home moms did not bring down women's median income.

Low income levels for Hispanic women have a lot to do with the fact Utah's Hispanic population grew by 138 percent from 1990 to 2000, with many of the new residents having come directly from other countries. Immigrants, whether they are Irish, German or Hispanic, tend to take low-paying jobs when they first arrive in a new country, said Josie Valdez, assistant director for minority business development at the Small Business Administration.