Percentage of Population with a Graduate or Professional Degree

A highly educated, highly skilled workforce is a significant aspect of an innovation ecosystem. According to McKinsey & Company, the demands of innovators have never been greater; thus, innovative leaders need to hire individuals who possess diverse skill sets and are able to work on multiple projects simultaneously. Oftentimes those possessing the qualities needed to work within innovation industries are individuals with graduate and professional degrees, including, but not limited to, a master’s degree or a doctoral degree.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15.6 percent of New Jersey’s population possessed a graduate or professional degree in 2017. In comparison, regional leader Massachusetts’s graduate and professional degree holders represented 19.5 percent of the state’s total population.