Columbia Metro Among Most Educated Cities in America: Study

The Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metropolitan area is among the top 20 most educated regions in the country, according to a new study from WalletHub.

Researchers from the financial information gathering destination ranked the most populated 150 metropolitan statistical areas in America based on factors like the percentage of those with bachelor’s degrees and the quality of the public schools.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson ranked 19th.

The nine measurements WalletHub used to rank cities also accounted for whether there were gender or race inequalities.

In the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, 15.8 percent of the population age 25 and older has a graduate or professional degree or higher, the 11th highest in the study.

For bachelor’s degrees, 36.4 percent of the population age 25 and older has attained one, according to WalletHub, which said that was the 17th highest percentage among the metro areas it reviewed.

These are the most educated cities in America, according to WalletHub:

1. Ann Arbor, Mich.
2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.)
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Provo-Orem, Utah
5. Colorado Springs, Colo.
6. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton (Mass.-N.H.)
8. Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.
9. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (Minn.-Wis.)
10. Raleigh, N.C.
11. Tallahassee, Fla.
12. Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
13. Portland-South Portland, Maine
14. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
15. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
16. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.
17. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro (Ore.-Wash.)
18. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
19. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.
20. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.

The bottom five (“least most educated”) areas, according to the study, are Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; Bakersfield, Calif.; Visalia-Porterville, Calif.; and Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas.