Workers who are professional may have higher levels of education, increased income opportunities and more workplace autonomy in comparison to low- and middle-skill wage laborers. The share of workers who are professional can be taken as a partial indication for how many workers within a particular group are achieving some version of the "American Dream" of social mobility grounded in a skilled, stable career path. This reflects on how equitable the opportunity structure may be within a given community or region.

There were wide disparities by race and ethnicity in 2017-21. While nearly half (44%) of Asian workers were professionals, with white workers not far behind (42%), this share dipped to 30% for African American workers, and fell even more to 23% for Hispanic workers.

There are many reasons why disparities may occur. In addition to the general effects of current and historical racial and ethnic discrimination, career and educational choices and pathways are influenced by family financial resources, personal social networks that connect to specific workplaces, and the availability of visible role models to let young people know that particular career paths are open and achievable to people like them. Language issues or immigration status may also be playing a role in the comparatively low rates for Hispanic workers.

Multiyear data are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample. The American Community Survey combines five years of responses to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the first quarter.