West Florida senior Raleigh Nesbitt delivering her speech during the 2015 graduation ceremony.

The nation’s high school graduation rate reached an all-time high for the Class of 2014, with 82 percent of students earning their diplomas on time in four years, according to federal data released Tuesday.

That’s a few percentage points higher than in 2010, the first year that states were required to track progress of each entering ninth-grade class, following them through12th grade.

The national graduation rate nudged up 1 percentage point from the previous year, making it the highest rate recorded for the nation since 2010.

The high school graduation rate is one of 16 benchmark metrics that the Studer Community Institute measures in the Pensacola Metro Dashboard. Developed with the University of West Florida, the dashboard is a snapshot of the educational, economic and social well-being of the community.

The Florida Department of Education is expected to release the 2015 graduation rate for high school students in the state. National graduation rates are always released a year behind state figures.

By comparison to the 2014 national graduation rate, 66.1 percent of students in Escambia County graduated on time in four years. The 2014 graduation rate for students in Santa Rosa was 82.8.

In Florida, students graduate at a rate of 76 percent, compared to 82 percent nationally.

The national data show that every category of student — broken down by race, income, learning disabilities and whether they are English-language learners — has posted annual progress in graduation rates since 2010, when states adopted a uniform method of calculating those rates.

Since then, states, districts and schools have been using a new, common metric—the adjusted cohort graduation rate—to promote greater accountability and develop strategies that will help reduce dropout rates and increase graduation rates in schools nationwide.

For the fourth consecutive year, the country’s graduation rate has continued to climb, which reflects continued progress among the nation’s high school students.

High school graduation is a highly touted measurement because it typically leads to higher pay, and places with a more-educated populace have greater productivity and economic growth.

To be sure, a high school diploma won’t get you very far in today’s labor market, with most jobs that pay more than minimum wage requiring some kind of advanced certification.

High-school dropouts are finding themselves cut off from many post-secondary opportunities that can lead to better employment and higher pay.

Data from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau shows that a high school dropout earned an average of $21,023, compared to $31,283 for a high school graduation and $58,613 for someone with a bachelor’s degree.

Those without high school diplomas are more than three times likely to be unemployed than are college graduates, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Low graduation rates can also make it harder for a community to attract businesses with the promise of a well-educated workforce.

Dropping out of high school costs the economy nearly $2 billion in lost tax revenue each year.

Nationally, a 90 percent graduation rate would yield $1.8 billion in local, state and federal taxes based on $5.3 billion in higher wages, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education.