The ‘Smartest’ Cities In The United States

All cities want educated workers – they spark innovation and make the local economy stronger. For recent grads, knowing which cities have the most educated people can mean better job opportunities, higher pay, and a solid place to kick off your career.

WalletHub, a site that shares financial tools and information to help people make smart financial decisions, recently reviewed 150 top metro cities, highlighting where one can find the greatest concentration of educated Americans.

MEASURING EDUCATION AND EQUALITY IN CITIES

“Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it,” says WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe.

“The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level. In addition to overall education, it’s also important to look at how well cities promote educational equality when it comes to race and gender,” she adds.

What’s their method? WalletHub used two key dimensions – Educational Attainment, which awards higher points for a higher levels of education in adults over 25 years old, and Quality of Education & Attainment Gap, based off of the site’s own school ranking system, analogous to our Poets&Quants university ranking system. They also factor in metrics like racial and gender gaps as well as educational equality.

FIRST: ANN ARBOR, MI

Coming in as the top city for educated workers is Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here, over 95% of adults ages 25 and older have at least a high school diploma, with over 57% holding a bachelor’s degree and over 30% having an advanced degree.

In WalletHub’s rankings of Most Educated Cities, they landed in the top spot, No. 1 in the educational attainment ranking and secured a strong No. 4 in the Quality of Education & Attainment Gap ranking.

For those poised to be at the heart of the action in Ann Arbor, aside from Michigan Ross, nearby top business schools include Michigan State Broad, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and Purdue Daniels. All are within about a 50-mile radius and featured in our P&Q 2024 Best Undergrad Business Schools rankings.

SECOND: SAN JOSE, CA

The 2nd-most educated city in the US is San Jose, CA, with over 54% of adults 25 and older holding at least a bachelor’s degree, and over 26% holding a graduate or professional degree. Though they placed No. 17 in the quality of education & attainment gap section, a strong No. 4 finish in the educational attainment rank anchored them in second place overall.

Nearby schools for undergraduates to consider that we ranked highly within a 50-mile radius include Stanford, Berkeley Haas, and Santa Clara Leavey.

THIRD: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Washington, D.C. clocked in as the third-most educated in the country, with 53% of the population 25 and up holding at least a bachelor’s degree and over 26% having an advanced degree.

The city scored an impressive No. 3 overall in the Educational Attainment Rank category, yet fell in relation in their Quality of Education & Attainment Gap ranking, landing at No. 31.

For students aspiring to study in the greater D.C. area, they can look to a handful of schools that all scored highly in our P&Q business school rankings this year, including Georgetown (McDonough), George Washington University School of Business, University of Maryland (Smith), American University (Kogod), and Johns Hopkins University (Carey).

For additional details and methodology, click here,

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