Ann Arbor Is America's Most Educated City

MICHIGAN — With the fall semester drawing near and higher levels of education correlating with higher median weekly earnings, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Most & Least Educated Cities in America. It was a Michigan city that topped the list: Ann Arbor, home the the University of Michigan, was named the most educated city in America in the study.

To determine where the most educated Americans are choosing to settle, WalletHub compared the 150 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across 11 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher to racial education gap to quality of the public school system.

Ann Arbor had the top percentage of diploma and degree holders at each level: high school, associate's degrees and graduate or professional degrees. However, it also had one of the highest racial education gap, according to the study.

Here’s a look at how the cities in their study measured up:

Most Educated Cities

1. Ann Arbor, MI

2. Washington, DC

3. San Jose, CA

4. Durham, NC

5. San Francisco, CA

6. Madison, WI

7. Boston, MA

8. Austin, TX

9. Seattle, WA

10. Bridgeport, CT

Least Educated Cities

141. Ocala, FL

142. Fresno, CA

143. Stockton, CA

144. Salinas, CA

145. Hickory, NC

146. Modesto, CA

147. Bakersfield, CA

148. McAllen, TX

149. Brownsville, TX

150. Visalia, CA

Key Stats

• The Ann Arbor, MI, metro area has the highest share of bachelor’s degree holders aged 25 and older, 53.3 percent, which is 3.8 times higher than in Visalia-Porterville, CA, the metro area with the lowest at 14.0 percent.

• The Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA, metro area has the highest racial education gap, with the share of black bachelor’s degree holders aged 25 and older at 25.19 percent, compared with 19.52 percent for their white counterparts, a difference of 5.67 percent favoring blacks.

• For comparison, the national average for blacks with the same attributes is 13.09 percent and 20.28 percent for their white counterparts.

• The Anchorage, AK, metro area has the highest gender education gap, with the share of female bachelor’s degree holders aged 25 and older at 21.56 percent, compared with 17.91 percent for their male counterparts, a difference of 3.65 percent favoring women.

• For comparison, the national average for females with the same attributes is 19.02 percent and 18.59 percent for their male counterparts.

For the full study, click here.

Image via Shutterstock

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