Education matters. Over a lifetime, a working adult with a college bachelor’s degree can expect to earn an average of $2.1 million, compared to $1.2 million for someone with a high school diploma. A master’s holder will earn an average of $2.5 million over his or her lifetime. For people with doctoral degrees, that figure is closer to $3.4 million.
Given the economic benefits of higher education, a city’s college attainment rates are a big deal. Now, 24/7 Wall St. has identified the most educated metros in every state.
To identify the most educated cities in every state, 24/7 Wall St. ranked the percentages of metro area adults who have completed at least a bachelor’s degree in every state. The college attainment rate, along with poverty, income, and high school attainment rates, as well as the percentage of households receiving SNAP benefits for metro areas and for states all came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey. Shares of each metro’s workforce employed in particular industries came from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a program published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of post-secondary institutions in each metropolitan area came from a list compiled by the U.S. Department of Education. Post-secondary institutions include four-year universities and colleges, as well as technical institutes and trade academies. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area, which spans the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia was excluded from our ranking.
Nationwide, the researchers found that 30.6 percent of adults had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Cities with a high number of well-paying jobs and those with major universities saw the greatest college attainment levels.
Here are the most educated cities in the 5 largest states:
5) Bloomington, IL (bachelor’s holders 44%, postsecondary grads 5%)
4) Ithaca, NY (bachelor’s holders 54.9%, postsecondary grads 4%)
3) Gainesville, FL (bachelor’s holders 42%, postsecondary grads 9%)
2) Austin-Round Rock, TX (bachelor’s holders 42.6%, postsecondary grads 43%)
1) San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (bachelor’s holders 48.7%, postsecondary grads 32%)