Educational Attainment – San Bernardino County Community Indicators

Home ›
Education ›
Educational Attainment

San Bernardino County Graduation Rate Exceeds State Average

A high school diploma or college degree unlocks career opportunities often unavailable to those without these achievements. Beyond the personal and financial benefits of increased educational attainment, the education level of residents reflects the quality and diversity of the labor pool – an important factor for businesses looking to locate or expand in the region. Educational attainment is measured by tracking the high school graduation rate and the proportion of residents over the age of 25 with a high school diploma or bachelor’s degree.

Percent of San Bernardino Residents with an Associate’s Degree, 8.6%

Trend

Between 2015 and 2024, the proportion of San Bernardino County residents age 25 years and older who have a high school diploma or higher increased from 78.9% to 82.5%. During this same time period, the rate of San Bernardino County residents over the age of 25 who have a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 4.7 percentage points, from 19.4% in 2015 to 24.1% in 2024. This increase is less than the state and nation, which saw growth in bachelor’s degrees or higher of 5.9 percentage points and 6.2 percentage points, respectively.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN SAN BERNARDINO CONTINUES TO IMPROVE

Percentage of Residents Who Have a High School Diploma (or Higher) and Bachelor’s Degree (or Higher) in San Bernardino County, California, and the United States, 2015 and 2024

Note: Data from the 1-Year American Community Survey were not released for 2020.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates, 2015 and 2024 (Table DP02)

San Bernardino County’s high school graduation rate increased from 86.2% in 2023/24 to 87.8% in 2024/25, edging ahead of the statewide average of 87.5% in 2024/25.^[1]

COUNTY GRADUATION RATE REACHES NEW HIGH

Graduation Rates in San Bernardino County and California, 2016/17 – 2024/25

Note: Graduation Rate data are currently sourced from the California Department of Education’s DataQuest measured using the four-year adjusted cohort graduate rate (ACGR) and includes data on both charter and non-charter schools. This differs slightly from data published by the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, which uses data sourced from California Department of Education’s California School Dashboard, where the Dashboard Graduation Rate methodology includes the blended rate of combined four- and five-year graduation rates for traditional non-charter schools and one-year graduation rate for Dashboard Alternative Schools Status (DASS) non-charter schools.

Source: California Department of Education, DataQuest (https://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/)

RACE/ETHNICITY DETAIL

When looking at graduation rates by race and ethnicity, 69% of the students who graduated in 2025 were Latino, 15% were White, and 7% identified as Black, similar to their composition in the overall student population. In the chart below, the race of San Bernardino County 4-year cohort students is provided for context. 

DISTRIBUTION OF COHORT GRADUATES MIRRORS UNDERLYING STUDENT DISTRIBUTION

Distribution of Graduates and Cohort Students, by Race/Ethnicity in San Bernardino County, 2024/25

Note: To understand the progress of students from different racial or ethnic groups, the chart displays the number of students who graduated from each racial or ethnic group as a percentage of all the cohort graduates, compared to each race or ethnic group’s percentage of the total student cohort. For example, if 100 students graduated, and 15 of the students that graduated identify as White, 15% of cohort graduates identify as White.  This can be compared to White students’ share of the total cohort.  For example, if 15% of the cohort graduates identify as White, and 15% of the total cohort students identify as White, students who identify as White’s graduation rate is commensurate to their share of the cohort.

Source: California Department of Education, DataQuest, 4-Year Cohort Graduates and all 4-Year Cohort Students (https://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/)

SOCIOECONOMIC DETAIL

Lower socioeconomic status among students continues to correlate with lower graduation rates; however, outcomes are improving in the county. The graduation rate for socioeconomically disadvantaged students in San Bernardino County increased from 85.0% in 2023/24 to 86.9% in 2024/25, and the gap in the high school graduation rate between socioeconomically disadvantaged students and their non-socioeconomically disadvantaged peers is narrowing in the county. In 2023/24, the graduation rate of socioeconomically disadvantaged students trailed non-socioeconomically disadvantaged students by 8.9 percentage points. In 2024/25, that gap had narrowed to 6.4 percentage points. Compared to the state overall, both socioeconomically disadvantaged students and non-socioeconomically disadvantaged students had higher graduation rates than their counterparts at the state level.

LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS CORRELATES WITH LOWER GRADUATION RATES

Graduation Rate by Socioeconomic Status in San Bernardino County and California, 2024/25

Source: California Department of Education, DataQuest (https://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/)

[1] The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate is the number of students who graduate from high school in four years with a regular high school diploma (e.g., does not include a general equivalency diploma or similar or lesser credentials).