Educational attainment — Work data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

Which of the following best describes the highest level of formal education that you've completed?

single select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	Respondents	Percent
Bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., B.Eng., etc.)	12,396	40.3%
Master's degree (M.A., M.S., M.Eng., MBA, etc.)	7,990	26.0%
Some college/university study without earning a degree	3,813	12.4%
Secondary school (e.g. American high school, German Realschule or Gymnasium, etc.)	2,431	7.9%
Professional degree (JD, MD, Ph.D, Ed.D, etc.)	1,812	5.9%
Associate degree (A.A., A.S., etc.)	942	3.1%
Primary/elementary school	706	2.3%
Other, please specify	671	2.2%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Educational attainment”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/education

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

{
  "question": "Educational attainment",
  "dataId": "Education",
  "asked": "Which of the following best describes the highest level of formal education that you've completed?",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/education",
  "demographic": {
    "id": "all-respondents",
    "type": "all",
    "name": "All Respondents",
    "n": 30761,
    "share": null
  },
  "series": null,
  "columns": [
    {
      "key": "response",
      "header": "Educational attainment",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": false
    },
    {
      "key": "count",
      "header": "Respondents",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": true
    },
    {
      "key": "pct",
      "header": "Percent",
      "unit": "%",
      "numeric": true
    }
  ],
  "licence": {
    "name": "ODbL 1.0",
    "url": "https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/",
    "holder": "Stack Exchange Inc."
  },
  "source": "Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
  "data": [
    {
      "response": "Bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., B.Eng., etc.)",
      "count": 12396,
      "pct": 0.403
    },
    {
      "response": "Master's degree (M.A., M.S., M.Eng., MBA, etc.)",
      "count": 7990,
      "pct": 0.26
    },
    {
      "response": "Some college/university study without earning a degree",
      "count": 3813,
      "pct": 0.124
    },
    {
      "response": "Secondary school (e.g. American high school, German Realschule or Gymnasium, etc.)",
      "count": 2431,
      "pct": 0.079
    },
    {
      "response": "Professional degree (JD, MD, Ph.D, Ed.D, etc.)",
      "count": 1812,
      "pct": 0.059
    },
    {
      "response": "Associate degree (A.A., A.S., etc.)",
      "count": 942,
      "pct": 0.031
    },
    {
      "response": "Primary/elementary school",
      "count": 706,
      "pct": 0.023
    },
    {
      "response": "Other, please specify",
      "count": 671,
      "pct": 0.022
    }
  ]
}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., B.Eng., etc.) | 12,396 | 40.3% |
| Master's degree (M.A., M.S., M.Eng., MBA, etc.) | 7,990 | 26.0% |
| Some college/university study without earning a degree | 3,813 | 12.4% |
| Secondary school (e.g. American high school, German Realschule or Gymnasium, etc.) | 2,431 | 7.9% |
| Professional degree (JD, MD, Ph.D, Ed.D, etc.) | 1,812 | 5.9% |
| Associate degree (A.A., A.S., etc.) | 942 | 3.1% |
| Primary/elementary school | 706 | 2.3% |
| Other, please specify | 671 | 2.2% |

Spreadsheet

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