Bethesda Named America's Most Educated Town

Yet another list has named Bethesda the place to call home, with a recent study of the most educated places in America listing Bethesda as the entire country’s most-educated town for the third year in a row.

The study was conducted by financial website Nerd Wallet using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The study authors gave various weights to the level of education completed by residents to achieve the rankings.

Here’s what the study had to say about Bethesda:

For the third year in a row, Bethesda has earned the top spot of all educated communities on our list. Nearly 99% of residents over 25 years old have at least a high school diploma or an associate degree, and 81% hold at least a bachelor’s degree. As the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health, Lockheed Martin, other companies and government agencies, this community is home to professionals in fields such as biomedicine and engineering.

»What do you think makes Bethesda special? Tell us in comments.

Three Bethesda public high schools — Walter Johnson, Walt Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High Schools — each ranked in the top 100 on a recent list of Maryland’s best high school teachers.

Bethesda wasn’t alone among Maryland towns on the list. Potomac ranked No. 3, North Bethesda ranked No. 16, Rockville ranked No. 29, Ellicott City placed No. 37, Columbia ranked No. 40, Towson was No. 49, Olney ranked No. 56, and Pikesville placed No. 80.

The editors said of Potomac:

About 13 miles from the center of Washington, D.C., Potomac is home to government officials, scientists and other specialists who commute to the capital. The community places highly on our list because at 15.4% it has the second-highest percentage of people with professional degrees. Potomac also includes some of the most affluent neighborhoods in the U.S.