The Editorial Projects in Educational Research Center, a non-profit tax-exempt organization, conducted a study published online in Education Week. The study, Learning and Earning (Swanson, 2007), was part of the Diplomas Count series which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The study examined the relationship
between education and pay using the O*NET database
and data obtained from the 2005 American Community Survey. The study was based on the strong correlation between educational attainment and O*NET job zones. Results showed that only a small percent of people working in low job zones have attained the levels of education or training
associated with high job zones and vice versa. Researchers looked at median incomes within each of the five O*NET Job Zones. One of their findings was that median incomes for workers in Job Zone 1 occupations are about 20 percent of the median income for workers in Job Zone 5 occupations.
