U.S., October 12, 2016 (Time): A new analysis from the Pew Research Center focuses on how much money various religious groups earn, and clearly, members of certain religions are much more likely than others to be wealthy. But don’t assume that converting to a new religion is going to somehow boost your income. The real takeaway from the data is probably a message you’ve heard many times over: Higher education is the path to higher earnings.
According to data collected in a huge 2014 Pew study, 44% of American Jews live in a household with total income of $100,000 or more. That’s the highest rate in the nation, followed by Hindus (36%) and Episcopalians (35%). These three groups also had high representations in the $50,000 to $99,000 income bracket. Altogether, roughly 70% of members of the Jewish, Hindu, and Episcopalian faith have household incomes of $50,000 or above.
In a way it should come as little surprise that Jews and Hindus tend to have the highest earners. After all, they also tend to be exceptionally well educated. A previous Pew study revealed that 58% of American Jews are college graduates, and 28% have post-grad degrees–compared to rates of 29% and 10%, respectively, for all U.S. adults. Hindus have even higher rates of higher education, with 85% holding college degrees and 57% with some post-graduate education, according to a 2012 study.