This Is The Least Educated City In Washington

By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. - Seattle

2021-11-02

College enrollment has declined steadily in the United States in recent years. With rising tuition costs and surging student debt, enrollment rates have fallen at an average of nearly 2% a year since 2010. While four years of higher education may not be for everyone, Americans without a bachelor’s degree tend to be far more limited in their career opportunities, job security, and earning potential.

Nationwide, an estimated 32.1% of American adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educational attainment rates vary considerably across the country, however, and in nearly every state, there is at least one city where the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree is well below the national average.

Using education data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 24/7 Wall St. identified the least educated city in every state.

In Washington, no city or town with a population of 25,000 or more has a lower bachelor’s degree attainment rate than Spanaway. Only 13.9% of the adult population in Spanaway have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 36.0% of adults across the state as a whole.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among American adults with a four-year college education was 5.5% 2020. Among those with no more than a high school diploma, the jobless rate was considerably higher, at 9.0%. In Spanaway, an average of 7.5% of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 were unemployed over the last five years, higher than the 4.0% jobless rate across the state over that time.

All cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and census-designated places with over 25,000 people were considered for this story. All data used are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. This is the least educated city in every state.

Can't see the article's infographic? Click here to view the original story.

This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.