Education has a significant impact on a city’s economic standing. A higher level of education can offer a higher employment salary and, in turn, produce higher taxes, benefiting the city as a whole.
Finding a city with a high standard of education may not be the initial consideration for prospective homeowners. However, it could be a vital factor in discovering a well-attended and tranquil neighborhood to call home.
WalletHub has compared 150 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas across 11 different metrics. The data covers adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree and higher.
1. Ann Arbor, MI
Incontestably, Ann Arbor produced a staggering overall ranking of 94.71 out of 100, placing it as the best city in terms of Education Attainment and Quality of Education and Attainment Gap.
It was the city with the highest percentage of high school diploma holders, the city with the highest percentage of associate’s degree holders or college-experienced adults, the city with, again, the highest degree of bachelor’s degree holders, and alongside San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA.
The city held the highest percentage of graduate or professional degree holders in the country.
Additionally, Ann Arbor had the fifth-highest average university quality overall. With such incredibly high statistics, it’s no surprise that the city is a far leap from others in the country.
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
With a score of 83.12, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara is significantly lower than Ann Arbor but has still ranked highly enough to be second in the country.
Equal with Madison, WI, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has the fourth highest percentage of associate’s degree holders or college-experienced adults in the country.
Additionally, they have the second-highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders, as well as the highest (equal with Ann Arbor, MI) percentage of graduate or professional degree holders.
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Along with Ann Arbor and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Washington-Arlington-Alexandra had the highest percentage of professional degree holders in the United States.
They also had the third-highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders. Ranking third overall, they scored a huge 82.25 out of 100 and came second overall in Educational Attainment.
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
With a score of 80.77, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley ranked fourth overall with impressive statistics.
They had the fourth highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders in the country, an equal highest percentage of graduate or professional degree holders, and, negatively, they were the third lowest city regarding the racial education gap.
Despite this, they managed to rank fourth, though their position is extremely close to number five.
5. Madison, WI
Ranking fifth in America, Madison, WI scored 80.59 out of 100, only 0.18 off the fourth place.
Madison had the second highest percentage of high school diploma holders and was equal fourth with the highest percentage of associate’s degree holders or college-experienced adults.
Unfortunately, the city was fourth lowest in their racial education gap, explaining why they did not rank higher on the overall list.
6. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Favoring women, Durham-Chapel Hill came third in the gender education gap. WalletHub determined that the city had equality throughout their education fields rather than favoring men, which has traditionally been the case.
Additionally, they had the third-highest average university quality and equal first-highest percentage of graduate or professional degree holders.
Durham-Chapel Hill ranked sixth overall, with a score of 78.94. They also placed fourth overall in the Quality of Education and Attainment Gap.
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Boston-Cambridge-Newton had the fifth-highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders. While that was their only notable achievement listed, they scored a solid 78.81 out of 100 overall, placing them seventh on the list.
8. Raleigh-Cary, NC
Scoring 78.40 and placing eighth, Raleigh-Cary was sixth in the country for Educational Attainment.
They also had the third highest percentage of associate’s degree holders or college-experienced adults, making their position fairly placed.
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
With placement as ninth in the country, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue was happily above average with a score of 76.09 out of 100.
They ranked well for Educational Attainment and Quality of Education and Attainment Gap, slotting them comfortably with America’s top ten most educated cities.
Which Were The Worst Cities?
And for those cities that didn’t quite cut it? The lowest rankings were delivered.
Visalia, CA, was the worst all over, with a poor score of 8.28 due to having the lowest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders in the country.
Only just above was Brownsville-Harlingen, TX with 11.21, who along with having a low percentage of bachelor’s degree holders, also had one of the lowest percentages of high school diploma holders.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX also ranked low with 14.16, achieving the lowest percentage in the country when it came to associate degree holders or college-experienced adults.
This article has been produced by TPR Teaching.
Caitriona Maria is an education writer and founder of TPR Teaching, crafting inspiring pieces that promote the importance of developing new skills. For 7 years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.