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May 2006
Vol. 7, No. 5
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Indiana's Economic Snapshots
This Month: Rates—Dropouts and Unemployment
Indiana’s High School Dropout Rate and Rank
According to the American Community Survey (ACS), Indiana has the worst
high school dropout rate in the country. At 13 percent, Indiana’s
dropout rate is considerably above the national average of 8 percent.
Percent and Numeric Change in Dropouts from School-Year 2002/2003 to
2003/2004
According to the Indiana Department of Education, there were 8,045 dropouts
from public schools (seventh through 12th grade) during the 2003/04 school
year, which was an 18.5 percent increase over the 2002/03 school year.
At 333.3 percent, Decatur County had the largest year-over-year increase
in dropouts; however, the increase was from three students in 2002/03
to 13 students in 2003/04. At 1,202, Marion County had the largest number
of students dropping out of the public school system during the 2003/04
school year; this represents a 35.1 percent increase over 2002/03.
High School Dropout Rates in the Midwest Compared to the U.S. Average
Defined as “the percentage of teenagers between the ages of 16
and 19, who are not enrolled in high school and are not high school graduates,” the
high school dropout in the Midwest was lower than the U.S. average from
2002 through 2004, with the exception of Indiana and Kentucky. Between
2002 and 2004, the Midwestern states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and
Wisconsin had an average high school dropout rate of 6.7 percent, which
was 1.7 percent less than the national average. At 4 percent in 2003,
Wisconsin had the lowest dropout rate in the country.
Unemployment Rate by County, March 2006
All but nine of Indiana’s 92 counties experienced a drop in their
unemployment rates between March 2005 and March 2006, according to the
latest labor force figures. Of the nine counties with no decline in rates,
Lake (6.7) and Lawrence (7.8) counties had no change between March 2005
and 2006.
Rate increases for the other seven counties were not dramatic, ranging
from three-tenths of a point in Washington County to one-tenth of a point
in Crawford County.
The biggest declines in unemployment rates over the past year were
in Grant, Putnam, Clay and Sullivan counties, each with a drop of 1.7
points or more.
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