Smarty Pants
Austin declared one of the most educated cities in America — and No. 1 in Texas
Austin, you get an A-plus. Personal finance website WalletHub has released its list of the most educated cities in the U.S., and the Capital City ranks in the top 10.
To determine the rankings, the website compared the 150 largest metropolitan areas across metrics in two key areas: educational attainment and quality of education. Based on its findings, Austin comes in at No. 9 — the same ranking as 2016.
Austin earns good grades for educational attainment. About 88 percent of adults ages 25 and older have at least a high school diploma. Sixty-nine percent have college experience, 41.7 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher (the 10th highest percentage in the country), and 14.5 percent have a graduate or professional degree.
And the quality of our education is outstanding. WalletHub ranks our public school system No. 9 in the nation, and our universities rank No. 15.
Austin loses points for having one of the largest disparities between black and white bachelor's degree-holders (No. 131 out of 150) and females and males (No. 47). These gaps were much smaller in 2016, when Austin ranked No. 102 and No. 39, respectively.
At least we can take solace in the fact that Austin blows the rest of Texas away. Dallas-Forth Worth is No. 70, Houston is No. 79, and San Antonio is way down at No. 109.
The nation's three most educated cities are the same as last year: Ann Arbor, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; and San Jose, California.