Study ranks California’s most and least educated cities
Two California metropolitan areas are ranked among the ten “Most Educated Cities” in the nation, while several Golden State cities land at the bottom of the list, according to a new study from WalletHub.
The financial services company compared the 150 most populated cities in the U.S., grading them based on a formula that included the share of adults with high school diplomas and college degrees and the quality of public education.
It also weighted racial and gender gaps.
For the second straight year, Ann Arbor, Michigan, ranked No. 1, followed by California’s San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area.
“The San Jose metro area is the second-most educated in America, with residents pursuing higher education at high rates,” WalletHub notes. “Over 54% of adults ages 25 and older have at least a bachelor’s degree, and over 26% have a graduate or professional degree. San Jose also ranks first in the country for university quality, and it also has the fourth-most summer learning opportunities per capita.”
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley dropped two spots to 6th. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim climbed seven spots to 87th.
10 Most Educated Cities in the U.S. (Source: WalletHub)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Madison, WI
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
Raleigh-Cary, NC
Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Source: WalletHub
On the opposite end, several cities in California’s agricultural areas, namely the Central Valley, fared poorly on WalletHub’s list. Visalia was dead last, Bakersfield ranked 147th, Modesto 146th, Stockton 145th, Salinas 142nd and Fresno 140th.
Other California Rankings
23. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
49. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
52. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
64. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
92. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
121. Vallejo, CA
137. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
140. Fresno, CA
142. Salinas, CA
145. Stockton, CA
146. Modesto, CA
147. Bakersfield, CA
150. Visalia, CA
Stephanie Helms Pickett, the head of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Antioch University and a WalletHub expert, says communities should reexamine how public education supports their local economies.
“Our country’s educational model fails to account the diverse ways that people learn, process information and what best aligns not only with their interests but their skills,” Pickett says. ”The most important step we can take as a country to develop a more educated and skilled workforce is a partnership between higher education and industry – encompassing local businesses in forecasting the needed skills and training individuals to meet those needs.”
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