Two North Carolina Cities Are Among The Most Educated In The Country
When choosing a place to live there are a lot of factors that play into that decision. You want a good education for your children, but additionally living in a…
When choosing a place to live there are a lot of factors that play into that decision. You want a good education for your children, but additionally living in a highly educated area has other benefits. More education means higher salaries, which in turn means economic growth and higher tax revenues. But what North Carolina cities are home to the most educated people? Well two of them made the top 20 of WalletHub's latest list. The list is 2022’s Most & Least Educated Cities in America. Another NC city just cracked the top 30 as well.
How do you determine the most educated cities? WalletHub compared the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas across 11 key metrics. They measured the share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Then looked at this number against the quality of the public-school system to the gender education gap.
It wasn't all good news for North Carolina though. Unfortunately, some cities also ranked towards the bottom of this list. Including Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC coming in at 145 out of 150. Another major city, missing from this list was sitting at 53.
Two North Carolina Cities Rank In The Top 30 Most Educated Cities In The Country
30. Lansing-East Lansing, MI
Lansing, Michigan, USA at the Michigan State Capitol during the evening.
Total Score: 62.3
Educational Attainment: 38
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 26
29. Urban Honolulu, HI
Beautiful rainbow over the Hawaii skyline
Total Score: 62.49
Educational Attainment:
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap:
28. Asheville, NC
Asheville, North Carolina, USA at twilight.
Total Score: 62.61
Educational Attainment: 38
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 26
27. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT
Sean Pavone/Getty Images PlusTotal Score: 64.07
Educational Attainment: 21
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 127
26. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA
Total Score: 64.97
Educational Attainment: 28
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 20
25. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 27: A view of the skyline from the Allspring Global Investments: New Brand Launch at PEAK at Hudson Yards on April 27, 2022 in New York City.
Total Score: 65.23
Educational Attainment: 27
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 16
24. Lexington-Fayette, KY
Aerial view of Jacobson Park Lake and Richmond Road in Lexington, Kentucky
Total Score: 66.17
Educational Attainment: 23
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 31
23. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images PlusTotal Score: 67.07
Educational Attainment: 18
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 118
22. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
SeanPavonePhoto /Getty Images CreativeTotal Score: 67.13
Educational Attainment: 25
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 3
21. Huntsville, AL
Huntsville, Alabama, USA park and downtown cityscape at twilight.
Total Score: 67.41
Educational Attainment: 24
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 12
20. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
The New York State Capitol Building in Albany, home of the New York State Assembly. Monument of General Sherman on horseback.
Total Score: 67.58
Educational Attainment: 20
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 83
19. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Image of Minneapolis downtown skyline at sunset.
Total Score: 68.12
Educational Attainment: 13
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 116
18. Tallahassee, FL
Aerial photo Downtown Tallahassee Florida State Capitol
Total Score: 68.47
Educational Attainment: 22
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 7
17. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Portland, Oregon, USA downtown skyline with Mt. Hood at dawn.
Total Score: 69.24
Educational Attainment: 19
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 50
16. Portland-South Portland, ME
Portland, Maine, USA coastal townscape on Portland Harbor.
Total Score: 69.58
Educational Attainment: 16
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 70
15. Trenton-Princeton, NJ
The capital statehouse of New Jersey lights up as the sun sets the Delaware River in the background city of Trenton
Total Score: 70.11
Educational Attainment: 15
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 71
14. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
Fred_Bartholomew/Getty ImagesTotal Score: 70.78
Educational Attainment: 12
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 79
13. Colorado Springs, CO
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Total Score: 71.64
Educational Attainment: 14
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 30
12. Provo-Orem, UT
Aerial view of Provo City, Utah, Y Mountain, Brigham Young University, and surrounded neighborhoods
Total Score: 71.73
Educational Attainment: 17
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 24
11. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
Fayerweather Island, Black Rock Harbor, Bridgeport, Connecticut, lighthouse
Total Score: 71.96
Educational Attainment: 8
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 146
10. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesTotal Score: 73.84
Educational Attainment: 11
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 13
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Panoramic view of Seattle cityscape and Space Needle at sunset, Washington, USA
Total Score: 75.34
Educational Attainment: 10
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 14
8. Raleigh-Cary, NC
Total Score: 77.08
Educational Attainment: 7
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 44
7. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Durham, North Carolina, USA downtown cityscape.
Total Score: 78.06
Educational Attainment: 9
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 4
6. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Boston, Massachusetts, USA skyline over Boston Common.
Total Score: 78.26
Educational Attainment: 6
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 47
5. San Fransisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
The crookedest street in the world Lombard street at dawn. San Francisco is lightened by morning sun.
Total Score: 80.77
Educational Attainment: 4
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 17
4. Madison, WI
Madison, Wisconsin, USA downtown skyline on Lake Monona in the daytime.
Total Score: 80.83
Educational Attainment: 2
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 49
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total Score: 81.78
Educational Attainment: 3
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 27
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
StellaMc/Getty Images PlusTotal Score: 82.03
Educational Attainment: 5
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap: 5
1. Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. This campus is known as the Law Quad. The buildings show the Lawyers Club, a dormitory.
Total Score:
Educational Attainment:
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap:
Methodology (From WalletHub)
To identify the most and least educated cities in America, WalletHub compared the 150 most populated U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across two key dimensions, including “Educational Attainment” and “Quality of Education & Attainment Gap.”
We evaluated those dimensions using 11 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest educational attainment and quality of education. For metrics marked with two asterisks (**), we used the square root of the population to calculate the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor differences across cities.
Finally, we determined each metro area’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Educational Attainment - Total Points: 80
- Share of Adults Aged 25 & Older with a High School Diploma or Higher: Full Weight (~20.00 Points)
- Share of Adults Aged 25 & Older with at Least Some College Experience or an Associate's Degree or Higher: Full Weight (~20.00 Points)
- Share of Adults Aged 25 & Older with a Bachelor's Degree or Higher: Full Weight (~20.00 Points)
- Share of Adults Aged 25 & Older with a Graduate or Professional Degree: Full Weight (~20.00 Points)
Quality of Education & Attainment Gap - Total Points: 20
- Quality of Public School System: Double Weight (~4.44 Points)
Note: This metric is based on GreatSchools.org’s ratings of U.S. public schools. - Average Quality of Universities: Double Weight (~4.44 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub “College & University” rankings report. - Enrolled Students in Top 1,015 Universities per Capita: Full Weight (~2.22 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub “College & University” rankings report. - Number of Summer Learning Opportunities per Capita**: Full Weight (~2.22 Points)
- Racial Education Gap*: Full Weight (~2.22 Points)
Note: This metric specifically measures the difference between the percentage of black bachelor’s degree holders and the percentage of their white counterparts. - Gender Education Gap*: Full Weight (~2.22 Points)
Note: This metric specifically measures the difference between the percentage of female bachelor’s degree holders and the percentage of their male counterparts. - Education Equality Index Score: Full Weight (~2.22 Points)
Note: The Education Equality Index (EEI) is a comparative measure of the achievement gap between students from low-income families, as measured by participation in the free and reduced price lunch program, and their more advantaged peers. The EEI compares the proportion of students from low-income families who are proficient on a state assessment to all students across the state who took that same grade or subject level assessment.
*Additional context: In metro areas where women have an advantage over men and black people have an advantage over white people, we gave extra credit compared to the metro areas with no gender-based/racial inequality.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, GreatSchools.org, Education Cities.org, Yelp and WalletHub research.
Smartest States
Graduations for the class of 2022 have come and gone. High school seniors have made their college plans and others are starting their careers. Does being from a certain state give you an advantage? Obviously, the quality of the school system where you live is going to have an impact. But are certain states smarter than others? Well, PennStakes.com thinks so. They recently conducted research to find out what are the smartest states and South Carolina, well this one wasn't for you!
Some of these rankings do line up with America's top universities, but not all. And are schools like Harvard and Yale a fair representation of the entire state? How could they be when these schools are so exclusive. But gosh, it's hard to believe that in the bottom 5th of all the smartest states is where you find South Carolina.
So where did these rankings come from? PennStakes analyzed several key metrics including IQ scores, SAT scores, and more to create these rankings. You can see the full methodology at the end of this article.
America's Smartest States (15 Lowest Ranking States)
50. West Virginia
Total Score: 12.6
krblokhin/Getty Images Plus49. Mississippi
Total Score: 13.3
SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Plus48. Louisiana
Total Score: 15.2
Sean Pavone/Getty Images Plus47. Arkansas
Total Score: 19.1
Sean Pavone/Getty Images Creative46. Nevada
Total Score: 20.0
Jacob Boomsma/Getty Images Plus45. New Mexico
Total Score: 20.4
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA downtown cityscape and street at twilight.
44. Alabama
Total Score: 22.4
Allard1/Getty Images Plus43. Oklahoma
Total Score: 22.4
pabradyphoto/Getty Images Plus42. Texas
Total Score: 23.9
Дмитрий Ларичев/ Getty Images Plus41. South Carolina
Total Score: 28.0
White more than double the bottom two on this list, SC did still sore a dismal 28.0. In contrast the "smartest" state on this list scored a 93.9.
Oleksii Liskonih/Getty Images Plus40. Kentucky
Total Score: 30.5
Sean Pavone/Getty Images Plus39. Florida
Total Score: 32.4
Getty Images/SeanPavonePhoto38. Tennessee
Total Score: 34.2
Getty Images/Kruck2037. Arizona
Total Score: 35.9
Jonathan Ross Getty Images36. Idaho
Total Score: 36.5
knowlesgallery/Getty Images PlusTop 15 Smartest States
15. Nebraska
Total Score: 52.5
wellesenterprises/Getty Images Plus14. Kansas
Total Score: 53.3
Getty Images/Samantha Ward13. Utah
Total Score: 55.5
Getty Images/legacyimagesphotography12. Maine
Total Score: 55.8
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)11. New York
Total Score: 57.8
Jack Gao/ Getty Images Plus10. Washington
Total Score: 60.3
Cavan Images/Getty Images Plus
9. Minnesota
Total Score: 67.0
Susan Rydberg/Getty Images Creative8. Colorado
Total Score: 69.4
lightphoto/Getty Images Plus7. New Jersey
Total Score: 69.5
AUDREY SCRIPP/Getty Images Plus6. New Hampshire
Total Score: 70.5
Sean Pavone/Getty Images Plus5. Vermont
Total Score: 72.2
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)4. Virginia
Total Score: 72.5
SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Creative3. Maryland
Total Score: 72.8
SeanPavonePhoto/Getty Images Plus2. Connecticut
Total Score: 73.8
Sean Pavone/Getty Images Plus1. Massachusetts
Total Score: 93.9
Massachusetts decidedly takes the win, with a score a full 20 points higher than the 2nd place state.
Fabiano Lacerda Dossanto/Getty Images Plus
