程度 / 水平 / 层次【chéngdù / shuǐpíng / céngcì】

程度, 水平 and 层次 can all translate "level". 水平 is a standard of skill or quality that can be high or low, 程度 is how far something goes, and 层次 is a tier in a structure.

水平 – how good

水平 goes with skills, standards and quality: 中文水平, 技术水平, 生活水平. It takes 高 and 低, and 有水平 on its own means "good at what they do".

程度 – how far

程度 measures the extent of something, often something bad or neutral: damage, pollution, understanding. Two frames are common: 到…的程度 "to the point that", and 在一定程度上 "to some extent".

文化程度 and 教育程度 are fixed phrases for how much schooling someone has had. Outside them, a skill takes 水平.

• × 他的中文程度很高 → 他的中文水平很高
• × 污染到了很严重的水平 → 污染到了很严重的程度

层次 – tiers and structure

层次 sorts people or things into layers: readers, consumers, kinds of talent. 高层次 means advanced or high-end. Said of writing, 层次清楚 means the ideas are well organised.