Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan
Most and Least Educated Cities of 2025
Ever wonder which U.S. cities are in the lead when it comes to education? WalletHub just dropped their 2025 report on the most and least educated cities, and the results say a lot about where people are chasing degrees and where there’s room to grow.
To determine who’s in the lead, WalletHub compared 150 metro areas across 11 different factors, like how many adults have college degrees, how good the public schools are, and how fair education is across race and gender. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says, “Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it… It’s also important to look at how well cities promote educational equality when it comes to race and gender.”
Most Educated Cities:
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Durham, NC
- Madison, WI
- San Jose, CA
- Washington, DC
- Raleigh, NC
- San Francisco, CA
- Austin, TX
- Seattle, WA
- Boston, MA
Least Educated Cities:
- Beaumont, TX
- Hickory, NC
- Salinas, CA
- Stockton, CA
- Fresno, CA
- Modesto, CA
- Bakersfield, CA
- McAllen, TX
- Brownsville, TX
- Visalia, CA
THE TOP THREE EDUCATED CITIES
Ann Arbor, Michigan held steady at No. 1 for the second year in a row. With nearly 96% of adults holding a high school diploma, 58% with a bachelor’s, and 31% with an advanced degree, this city continues to dominate both the “Educational Attainment” and “Quality of Education & Attainment Gap” categories.
Durham, North Carolina moved up from No. 4 in 2024 to No. 2 in 2025, thanks to strong metrics like 52% of adults with a bachelor’s degree and 26% with a graduate degree. The city also ranked No. 8 for university quality and No. 16 for summer learning opportunities, reflecting a well-rounded academic ecosystem.
Madison, Wisconsin rose from No. 5 to No. 3, driven by its high percentage of degree holders and strong public-school performance. The city ranked No. 3 in Educational Attainment and No. 54 in Quality of Education & Attainment Gap, with standout stats like being No. 2 nationally for high school diploma holders.
In Oxnard, California, the racial gap in college education is surprisingly low. It fact, Black adults aged 25 and up are earning bachelor’s degrees at a slightly higher rate than white adults (30.55% vs. 26.46%). Nationally, those numbers aren’t nearly as close. Only about 15.66% of Black adults have a bachelor’s, compared to 23.89% of white adults. Over in Anchorage, Alaska, the gender gap is also flipped. Women are outpacing men in college completion, with 23.53% of women holding degrees compared to 19.13% of men. These cities show that progress toward education equity is possible, even if it’s not yet the national norm.
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