Recent studies have emphasized the importance of increasing human capital, both through investments in education and attracting new, more highly educated residents. Most new jobs, particularly higher paying jobs require a high school education and often additional training or a college degree. Cities with higher rates of adults without high school diplomas will have a harder time attracting new employers, making economic growth difficult. The proportion of the adult population with less than a high school diploma is therefore an important indicator of a city's available human capital.
The cities in North Carolina with the highest percentages of adults without a high school diploma tend to be places where, historically, manufacturing and agriculture have been important components of their economies. With the decline in manufacturing across the country and in North Carolina, there are many fewer well-paying jobs for those without high school diplomas, technical training, and college degrees. This will make economic prosperity difficult for cities with large numbers of poorly educated adults.
North Carolina has consistently had higher rates of adults without a high school diploma than the U.S. average. In 1990, 30 percent of North Carolina's population over 25 did not have a high school diploma, compared to 24.8 percent for the nation. The good news is that the gap between North Carolina and the nation narrowed in 2000 to 2.3 percentage points and the number of North Carolinians without a high school diploma has continued to decrease. The most recent three-year data from the American Community Survey (2010-2012) estimate that 15.1 percent of North Carolinians do not have a high school degree compared to 14.1 percent for the nation. Over time, a majority of North Carolina's largest cities have had lower percentages of adults without a high school diploma compared to the state as a whole.
The cities in the Research Triangle area have had consistently low rates of non-high school graduates, as have some of Charlotte's suburbs including Huntersville, Mint Hill, and Cornelius. Three communities, Wilson, Lumberton, and Thomasville were in the top ten for largest percentage of residents without a high school diploma for each period in this report. Roughly one-quarter of adults in these communities do not have a high school diploma. Five communities (Cary, Matthews, Chapel Hill, Havelock, and Apex) were amongst the cities with the ten lowest percentages of residents without a high school diploma for each period.
Percentages of municipal population without a high school degree was estimated by summing the categories of: no schooling completed, nursery to 4th grade, 5th and 6th grade, 7th and 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade, no diploma. The summed amounts were then divided by the estimated amount of people 25 years or older per geography.