5 California Suburbs Among Least Educated Cities

2 California Cities Among Most Educated Cities

With the average cost of attendance at a four-year college having fallen by around 10% in the past three years, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s Most & Least Educated Cities in America.

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

Most Educated Cities

1. Ann Arbor, MI
2. San Jose, CA
3. Washington, DC
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Madison, WI
6. Durham, NC
7. Boston, MA
8. Raleigh, NC
9. Seattle, WA
10. Austin, TX

Least Educated Cities

141. Salinas, CA
142. Corpus Christi, TX
143. Beaumont, TX
144. Hickory, NC
145. Stockton, CA
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, 57.20 percent, which is 3.8 times higher than in Visalia, CA, the metro area with the lowest at 15.20 percent.
• The El Paso, TX, metro area has the highest racial education gap, with the share of black bachelor’s degree holders aged 25 and older at 23.75 percent, compared with 20.78 percent for their white counterparts, a difference of 2.96 percent favoring black people.
• For comparison, the national average for black people with the same attributes is 15.07 percent, and it is 23.32 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 23.25 percent, compared with 18.64 percent for their male counterparts, a difference of 4.61 percent favoring women.
• For comparison, the national average for women with the same attributes is 21.03 percent, and it is 20.12 percent for their male counterparts.

Expert Commentary

Should local authorities target policies and programs to attract highly educated people? If so, what works?

“Highly educated people increase labor force productivity, and they invest heavily in the next generation. Because they see the fruits of their knowledge and skills, highly educated people typically view education as the golden ticket for children’s success. Thus, communities with affordable, high-quality childcare options and quality public schools can better attract highly educated people interested in raising children.”
— Molly Martin – Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University

“A well-educated community is more likely to make good decisions when electing leaders. Those communities tend to have lower crime rates and are less likely to have a variety of health and environmental hazards. In addition, more education leads to higher worker productivity, economic growth, and living standards for the community in general. Greater parental education correlates positively with children’s health, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement as well. Thus, I would argue that local authorities, especially those in distressed areas, should target policies and programs to attract highly educated people. To attract highly educated individuals, local authorities should encourage job creation for highly educated workers and invest in infrastructure and amenities in their communities. Many state and local governments routinely try to do this: some fail while some turn out to be successful. There is research available regarding the effectiveness of these programs. Local governments should opt for evidence-based policymaking.”
— Kuzey Yilmaz – Associate Professor, Cleveland State University

Are highly educated cities better able to withstand economic shocks?

“Communities with the highest proportion of adults with a college education also have the highest GDPs. Despite the continued push for more vocational training at U.S. colleges and universities, the true benefit of a college degree is the acquisition of numeracy and language skills, critical thinking, and broad knowledge that helps college graduates adapt to evolving careers, markets, and societal pressures. Thus, communities with a more highly educated population are likely better able to weather economic downturns.”
— Molly Martin – Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University

“Yes! A highly educated city is better able to withstand economic shocks because highly educated workers have a good understanding of broad concepts. As their knowledge is not tied to a particular job, they can be more flexible in switching careers down the road. In some cases, these workers can even take jobs that are not at all related to their field of study in college. On the other hand, less educated workers are trained to perform specific tasks for specific occupations, and it might be difficult for them to apply their knowledge to other fields and industries.”
— Kuzey Yilmaz – Associate Professor, Cleveland State University

What are the top education issues in 2023?

“The first issue is teacher retention. At all levels, teachers are leaving the profession because the U.S. continues to devalue educators and their expertise while increasing bureaucratic requirements. We need to better compensate our educators and respect their authority and experience. A second issue is the privatization of U.S. higher education over the last 50 years. The best predictor of whether a person attends and graduates from college is not their grades or test scores, but their parents’ income. Public colleges and universities have increased tuition rates because state funding has dried up…We need to recognize the societal benefits of a well-educated population and better fund public colleges and universities.”
— Molly Martin – Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University

“In my opinion, the biggest issue is teachers. There is a serious shortage of teachers and substitute teachers across the nation. Even worse, there are states that have lowered the requirement for substitute teachers to a high school diploma due to the teacher shortage. Clearly, the quality of teachers has become a serious problem. There should definitely be public conversations about how colleges are preparing our nation’s teachers and how those colleges are recruiting prospective teachers to enter the profession in the first place. Another significant issue is COVID learning loss. As a result of school closures and online education due to COVID, many students are lagging behind and have moved up to higher grades without learning the material from previous grades. ‘Catching kids up’ is going to be a big challenge.”
— Kuzey Yilmaz – Associate Professor, Cleveland State University

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656