Most Educated Cities in the US
 

City, in order of education rank
Percent of population with college degree or higher
Median household income & (rank)

1. Seattle, WA
51.3
$46,650 (8)

2. San Francisco, CA
51.0
$60,031 (2)

3. Raleigh, NC
49.7
$47,878 (7)

4. Washington, DC
47.7
$46,574 (9)

5. Austin, TX
45.1
$45,508 (15)

6. Atlanta, GA
42.9
$37,385 (50)

7. Minneapolis, MN
41.1
$44,116 (20)

8. Boston, MA
40.9
$45,892 (13)

9. Lexington-Fayette, KY
39.2
$38,322 (43)

10. San Diego, CA
39.0
$51,382 (5)

11. Portland, OR
37.8
$41,128 (28)

12. Oakland, CA
37.7
$46,190 (11)

13. San Jose, CA
37.3
$71,765 (1)

14. Charlotte, NC
37.2
$46,082 (12)

15. Denver, CO
35.9
$43,777 (21)

16. Honolulu, HI
34.4
$46,500 (10)

17. Colorado Springs, CO
34.1
$45,388 (16)

18. Pittsburgh, PA
33.6
$31,910 (59)

18. St. Paul, MN
33.6
$38,731 (41)

19. Cincinnati, OH
33.5
$31,960 (58)

19. Virginia Beach, VA
33.5
$55,781 (4)



Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Depart...ities&GT1=7571

Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Yay, Raleigh! :)

Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

I should say with all of the colleges in the area. :)

Good to see Charlotte on the list as well. :cool:

Well, San Diego is #10 on the list, but I feel inadequately educated (only a bachelor's degree).
:o

Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Most of these cities are big college towns (although I am a little surprised at Seattle being number 1) so the populations include professors, administrators and students at the universities. If the town is small and the % of university-related residents is high, of course, they will appear on this list!

Soooo, if most of the college-educated residents are affiliated with the universities, how does that reflect the overall job pool? Granted, it does have a boosting effect on the economics of the cities, though.

Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

WHAT!! Oakland made the list?!?!?!?
WoooHooo!! The TOWN is in the house:D :p :D

:( now I see why the midwest was barely represented! the college graduates and income in cincinnati leaves something to be desired elsewhere :eek:

Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Good point, but still yay! that both of the Twin Cities made it. :D

Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Then HC Columbus isn't on the list?

Largest university in enrollment in the US AND 7 other universities in the area to boot? Somebody lied about that list, for real.... :confused:

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Columbus could be like Baltimore! There are a lot of colleges/universities but not a whole lot of GRADUATES. Get my drift? ;)

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

*taken from OSU News and Information website*
(http://www.osu.edu/news/lvl2_news_story.php?id=1234)

So out of a roughly 52,000 student enrollment, at a 68% rate makes 35,360 graduates at OSU alone, to say nothing of the other local institutions, including Columbus State Community College, which has 23,000 students enrolled.

I still say, something ain't right with that study....

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

But maybe another factor is whether they STAY in Columbus. Maybe the other cities are enjoying the fruits of Columbus. In addition they only list 19 cities, so maybe if they had gone further Columbus my might be still in the top 25.

I know here in the TC, folx tend to stay after graduating because of the jobs that are available to them. Plus we have more than the U of M. We have several well respected smaller colleges and universities throught the state of MN. Those graduates usually settle in the Cities.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

The link provided by AKA2D makes a point of stating that some of the cities listed have a high percentage of individuals holding a batchelor's degree or higher. I don't believe that Columbus State would fall under those parameters since it's a community college. Where does Columbus stand in terms of people who go on to pursue other degrees after receiving their bachelors?

I believe it should be noted that the link you provided states that "Ohio State graduation rate continues to climb -- The university's six-year graduation rate has risen to 68 percent; up from 55 percent just five years ago." That may not stand in the schools favor if it's being compared to institutions where the percentage of students graduating are just as high but they are doing it in less time (four years v. six years).

Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Median household income & (rank)

That's 3 for the Bay Area:D

2. San Francisco, CA
51.0
$60,031 (2)

12. Oakland, CA
37.7
$46,190 (11)

13. San Jose, CA
37.3
$71,765 (1)

Good point
 

Touche, good point about Columbus State, I didn't read that part. But what about the other universities?

Because there is no specific information available about how the study was conducted and how the information was gathered, I still take issue with the findings, hence all the conjecture.

OTOH, maybe I'm making much ado about nothing. Considering it was an MSN article, I probably should be taking it with a grain of salt. IMHO MSN articles read like something out of a high school or college newspaper; lots of fluff, no real substance.

If your city was represented in the article, congrats! ;) :cool:

Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

and

It's because of Microsoft... Only because of Microsoft... And maybe Boeing and Weyerhauser. But mainly because of Microsoft...

And Seattle is an international port city. Meaning there is a huge Asian population here. Some for generations, others newly immigrated. Most are highly educated--like doctors and engineers that are working toward another higher degree. So like MD's working on a Ph.D., etc.

Take out the university system and Microsoft, you'd have an agricultural community, still--much like Spokane, WA.

Amazing Portland didn't make the cut... So much for the Columbia River Valley... And they have Nike Corp. over there...

Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

Interesting, hadn't thought about Seattle like that.. I keep hearing how it's so much similar to SF, both being international port cities but since you put it in that context, obviously they're not

Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

GO Bay!, Get STooooPID!:p

Re: Re: Re: Most Educated Cities in the US
 

I love SF. I was sorta kinna born near that area, well really Sacramento... But all my folks friends lived in Oakland and some in SF.

The difference between SF and Seattle is Seattle is "rainier"... The weather is way more incliment and cooler.

I am not as familiar with folks' personalities in SF because I lived in SoCal for a long time, but I see the similiarities between the NorCals and the SoCals in terms of thinking & behavior...

Whereas the PacNW's personalities are... They say up here, "No worries..." and are extremely polite. But they are very unfriendly and unwelcoming... Folks from the Southern states have a HUGE problem with that up here, it is just the strangest behavior to them. And the Seattlites aren't haters of Californians compared to the Texans, say... They, are kinda like, well, hey, you'd better like "granola", "Starbuck's" and "wheatgrass" with free "yoga-ing"... But for some reason they still smoke cigarettes like chimenies up here??? :confused: Why? I dunno?

So, in someways, there are similarities with SF, Seattle's cheaper than SF, but in other ways, there are differences... Relocated SF'icans really like living up here, though... But they need "happy lights" to remain here...