$7.7 Billion Spent on Clothing, $2.4 billion on Books in August 2011.

As July winds down and back-to-school panic sets in we thought we'd share some fun statistics shared with us by the U.S. Census Bureau:

Back-to-School Shopping

$7.7 billion 
The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2011. Only in November and December were sales higher. Similarly, sales at book stores in August 2011 totaled $2.4 billion, the strongest sales month of the year.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services

For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In 2009, there were 28,520 family clothing stores, 7,092 children and infants clothing stores, 26,651 shoe stores, 8,945 office supply and stationery stores, 21,628 sporting goods stores, 9,390 bookstores and 8,663 department stores.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns: 2009

Students

79 millionThe number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country in October 2010 — from nursery school to college. They comprised 27 percent of the entire population age 3 and older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 1

Pre-K through 12 Enrollment

72%
Percentage of children 3 to 6 enrolled in kindergarten who attended all day, as of October 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 3

24%
Percentage of elementary through high school students who had at least one foreign-born parent inOctober 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 1 

27%
Percentage of students ages 12 to 17 who were in a gifted class in 2009. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, A Child's Day: 2009 (Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being), Table D18

70%
Percentage of 6- to 17-year-olds who were highly engaged in school (children reported as liking school, being interested in school and working hard in school) in 2009. 
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, A Child's Day: 2009 (Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being); Table D27

Languages

11.8 million
Number of school-age children (5 to 17) who spoke a language other than English at home in 2010; 8.5 million of these children spoke Spanish at home.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey 

Colleges

16%
Percentage of all college students 35 and older in October 2010. They made up 34 percent of those attending school part time.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 5

41%
Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college in 2010.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 1

56%
Percent of college students who were women in 2010 (includes both undergraduate and graduate students).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, School Enrollment – Social and Economic Characteristics of Students:October 2010, Table 1 

Rewards of Staying in School

$74,000 
Median earnings of full-time, year-round workers with an advanced degree in 2009.  Workers whose highest degree was a bachelor's had median earnings of $56,000.  Median earnings for full-time, year-round workers with a high school diploma was $33,000, while workers with less than high school diploma had $25,000 median earnings.
Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009 

Note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau