20 Jan 2016 Top Large Metros for Bachelor’s Degree Holders are Washington-DC, San Jose-CA, San Francisco-CA; Most Improved are Grand Rapids-MI, San Jose-CA, Pittsburgh-PA
Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey illuminates which large metros have the highest percentage of adults holding at least a bachelor’s degree.
Bachelor’s degree holders constitute 30% of the U.S. population 25 years and older. Among large metros, the highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders is found in Washington, DC (49.3%). San Jose (47.5%), San Francisco (45.9%) and Boston (45.2%) follow. Other large metros with a high share of bachelor’s holders are Raleigh, Austin and Denver.
For the first time in 2014, there are more women (30.2%) than men (29.9%) with a bachelor’s degree or higher in the U.S., as discussed in more detail in an accompanying article. However, most of the Top 10 Metros have a higher percentage of men with bachelor’s degrees. Among men, the highest percentage of bachelor’s degree holders in large metros are found in Washington, DC (50.2%), San Jose (50.2%) and San Francisco (46.1%). The top three for women are Washington, DC (48.5%), San Francisco (45.7%) and Boston (45.1%).
From 2009 to 2014, bachelor’s degree holders in the U.S. increased by 2.2 percentage points. The large metros with the greatest 5-year increase are Grand Rapids (+4.7 pts.), San Jose (+4.2 pts.) and Pittsburgh (+3.8 pts.). Denver, Houston and Detroit also increased by more than three percentage points.
Women with bachelor’s degrees increased faster (+2.8 pts.) than men (+1.5 pts.) The most improved large metros for educated men are San Jose (+5.7 pts.), Grand Rapids (+3.8 pts.) and Salt Lake City (+3.1 pts.). For women, the metros are Grand Rapids (+5.6 pts.), Pittsburgh (+5.0 pts.) and Denver (+4.4 pts).
Research, analysis and content developed by Headlight Data. Original data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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