So, how useful that the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published a report on the demographics of 29-year-olds in the U.S. As a 29-year-old reporting on the economy from New York, it was a particularly good orientation for me. The impression of young people in the U.S. today is warped: In trend pieces, the word Millennial has become shorthand for “a college-educated young person living in a city.” But this usage elides some critical details, for example that most people born between the early 1980s and late 1990s (a) didn’t graduate from college, (b) aren’t living in a city, and (c) generally hate being called “Millennials.”

Instead, the average 29-year-old did not graduate from a four-year university, but she did start college; held several jobs, including more than two in the last three years; is not as likely to be married as her parents at this age, but is still likely to be living with somebody; is less likely to own a home than 15 years ago, but despite the story of urban renewal, is more likely to live outside of a dense urban area like Brooklyn or Washington, D.C.

Here are several more details from the BLS report (and some similar surveys) about 29-year-olds:

EDUCATION

The Education Attainment of 29-Year-Olds (Y-Axis: Percent)

BLS

The average 29-year-old has not graduated from college. Instead, he’s completed “some college” but doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree. Although about one-third of whites in this age cohort have a four-year degree, four out of five black and Hispanic 29-year-olds don’t. Perhaps the most surprising statistic is the huge diploma gap opening between men and women about to turn 30. Millennial men earn more than women their age, but by 29, one-third of women received a bachelor’s degree, compared with just about one-quarter of men.

WORK

The median income at 29 is about $35,000. Talk of a steady “career” for most young people is more aspirational than descriptive. Jobs are still temporary for twentysomethings. The average American has had more than seven jobs before she turns 29, and a third of them lasted less than six months. One might assume that job-hopping and short-term employment is just a part of being a teenager. But Americans at all levels of education held an average of more than two jobs between ages 25 and 28. The challenge of temporary employment is worse for young people without a high-school or college diploma. The typical length of a job for a high-school dropout between 18 and 28 is only six months.

MARRIAGE

Percent of 18-34-Year-Olds Married with Kids

Jed Kolko

The marriage story is complicated. On the one hand, young people are getting married and having children later than their parents, or not at all. In 1960, 84 percent of 25-29-year-olds were married; by 2010 just 42 percent were, a 50 percent decline. As the graph above shows, the percentage of Millennials married with kids has fallen steadily since 1970s. But that doesn’t mean most 29-year-olds are single. In fact, 60 percent of them are either married (40 percent) or living full-time with a partner, or “cohabitating” (20 percent). Perhaps it’s most accurate to say that being single at this age has become more common, but being “attached” has become more complicated, particularly for minorities. At 29, white college graduates are more than twice as likely to be married than blacks who didn't graduate from college.