California Makes List of Most (and Least) Educated Cities in the U.S.

Two California metros have made WalletHub’s list of the top 10 Most Educated Cities in America. However, five out of the 10 least educated cities in the country are also in the Golden State, according to the website.

WalletHub compiled the rankings after an analysis of the 150 most populous metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the country. It considered two main factors: educational attainment and the “quality of education and attainment gap.” 

America’s Most Educated MSAs

1. Ann Arbor, MI
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC/MD/VA
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA
5. Madison, WI
6. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA/NH
8. Raleigh-Cary, NC
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
10. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

America’s Least Educated MSAs

1. Visalia, CA (#150)
2. Brownsville-Arlington, TX (#149)
3. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (#148)
4. Bakersfield, CA (#147)
5. Modesto, CA (#146)
6. Stockton, CA (#145)
7. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC (#144)
8. Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX (#143)
9. Corpus Christi, TX (#142)
10. Salinas, CA (#141)

See the full rankings, including individual scores and methodology here.  

Lists and data were compiled by WalletHub and do not reflect statistics on all cities.