Definitions:
Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 who are not enrolled in high school and are not high school graduates. Those who have a GED or equivalent are included as high school graduates in this measure. The measure used here is defined as a “status dropout” rate. Inclusion of the group quarters population in the ACS in 2007 could have a noticeable impact on the universe population for this age group. Therefore, the 2007 ACS estimates might not be fully comparable to estimates prior to 2006.
Data Source:
Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, 2001 Supplementary Survey, 2002 through 2008 American Community Survey.
| N.A. |
Data is not available. |
| LNE |
Low Number Event |
| S |
Data estimate has been suppressed. Estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS)
are suppressed when the total confidence interval (upper bound minus lower bound) of the
percent estimate, is 10 percentage points or greater. Rates from Vital Statistics data are
suppressed when based on fewer than 20 births or deaths. |
Notes:
The data for this measure come from the 2000 and 2001 Supplementary Survey and the 2002 through 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). The 2000 through 2004 ACS surveyed approximately 700,000 households monthly during each calendar year. In general but particularly for these years, use caution when interpreting estimates for less populous states or indicators representing small subpopulations, where the sample size is relatively small. Beginning in January 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau expanded the ACS sample to 3 million households (full implementation), and in January 2006 the ACS included group quarters. The ACS, fully implemented, is designed to provide annually updated social, economic, and housing data for states and communities. (Such local-area data have traditionally been collected once every ten years in the long form of the decennial census.)
This measure focuses on teens ages 16 to 19 rather than young adults 16 to 24 because a large share of 18- to 24-year-olds migrate across state lines each year. The high interstate migration rates confound the connection between state policies and programs and state dropout rates. Raw numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Note: The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are
not included in maps and rankings because they are not states and therefore comparisons on many
indicators of child well being are not meaningful.
Confidence Interval:
A 90–percent confidence interval—a range of values around each estimate—is reported for each estimate at
Teens who are high school dropouts.
There is a 90–percent probability that the confidence interval contains the true value of the parameter of interest.