9. Reno, Nevada
- Bachelor’s completion rate for ages 25+: 61.39%
- Ages 25+ with graduate degrees: 26.24%
- Racial gap in bachelor’s degree attainment: -17.36%
Surrounded by ski resorts and Lake Tahoe scenes, Reno is Nevada’s second-largest city after Las Vegas. Reno, celebrated as the “biggest little city” in the world, also stands out for its educated residents.
In spite of its elevated high school dropout rate of 10.75%, 61.39% of Reno adults hold bachelor’s degrees and 26.24% have graduate degrees. That’s impressive enough to land Reno among the smartest cities.
10. Raleigh, North Carolina
- Bachelor’s completion rate for ages 25+: 51.16%
- Ages 25+ with graduate degrees: 21.66%
- Racial gap in bachelor’s degree attainment: -12.60%
Part of North Carolina’s research triangle, the Raleigh area hosts three major universities: North Carolina State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. So it’s not surprising that Raleigh ranks among the smartest cities in the U.S.
Over half (51.16%) of adults hold bachelor’s degrees, and 21.66% also hold graduate degrees. That’s enough to give Raleigh a spot on our ten most educated cities list.
The Most Educated Cities in The U.S.
Education Outlook: The Future Of the U.S. Education System
- NCES projects an 8% increase in college enrollment between fall 2020 and fall 2030. Part-time student enrollment is projected to rise by 9% between 2020 and 2020 and the full-time student population is projected to increase by 7%.⁷
Enrollment Projections by Race and Ethnicity
- Asian and Pacific Islander students will see a 7% decrease in enrollment between 2020 and 2030.⁷
- Enrollment of Black students is projected to rise by 19%.⁷
- Hispanic student enrollment is projected to grow by 21%.⁷
- Enrollment of white students is expected to increase by 3%.⁷
- Native American students enrollment should see a 3% rise in enrollment.⁷
Projected Value of a Degree
- Higher levels of education attainment correlate with higher earnings and lower unemployment rates, according to the BLS.⁸
- Professionals with bachelor’s degrees earn significantly higher weekly earnings than those with only a high school diploma. A bachelor’s degree also translates into a lower unemployment rate: 2.2% for those with bachelor’s degrees, compared to 3.9% for those with only a high school diploma.⁸
Top U.S. Education Trends
Growth In College Enrollment
- Undergraduate enrollment grew by 2.5% in spring 2024.⁹
- Between spring 2023 and spring 2024, freshman enrollment grew by 3.9%.⁹
- 44 states saw enrollmen
- t growth this spring, ranging from 0.8% (Vermont) to 6.1% (Georgia).⁹˒¹⁰
College Affordability Concerns
The cost of college remains a critical issue, with student debt, tuition rates and financial aid representing trending topics in education. The Biden administration’s attempts to relieve student loan debt highlight the prominence of this trend.
While some states have pursued proposals to increase funding for public college systems and offer targeted grants to state residents, other states have not yet significantly invested in making college more affordable for students.
Rise in Technical and Vocational Schools
- Enrollment grew at community colleges with a high vocational program focus, increasing by 17.6% and surpassing pre-pandemic enrollment by 6.1%.⁹
- NSCRC reported increased growth for vocational programs in spring 2024 related to mechanic and repair technologies (14.2%), precision production (10.2%), construction trades (8.1%), and personal and culinary services (7.7%).⁹
- At least 38 governors focused on workforce development and career and technical education to expand and develop new opportunities for high school students and strengthen the current workforce.¹¹
The Bottom Line
From coast to coast, diverse cities across the U.S. boast highly educated populations. Yet while the rate of Americans pursuing college degrees has grown in the past decade, this growth has slowed, and disparities remain. Men continue to drop out of school at higher rates and enroll in college at slower rates than women. And white and Asian students earn bachelor’s degrees at higher rates than Black, Hispanic and Native American learners.
Race continues to be a factor in education, with the supreme court ruling against affirmative action in 2023. As college costs rise and disparities worsen, alternative higher education options like vocational programs may continue growing in popularity.
Methodology
To determine the most educated cities, Forbes Education gathered several education metrics for the 100 largest U.S. cities by population from the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Communities Survey.
These metrics included the high school dropout rate, which shows the percentage of adults age 18 and older without a high school diploma; the percentage of adults age 25 and older with some college, but no degree; the undergraduate college completion rate, which shows the percentage of adults age 25 and older without a bachelor’s degree or higher; and the percentage of adults age 25 and older with an advanced degree.
We also accounted for educational equity with two other lower-weighted metrics, the racial college completion gap, and the gender college completion gap. The racial gap was determined by subtracting the college completion rate for all students from the college completion rate for only white students, to show which states non-white students faced the biggest obstacles.
The gender gap was determined by taking the absolute value of the difference between male and female graduation rates in each city; this method allowed us to measure the gender gap in each city regardless of which gender it favored.
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