Thirteen California cities appear in recent ranking of the most and least educated cities in the U.S., so just where does Salinas land in the rankings?
The analysis by WalletHub looked at a series of factors ranging from the ratio of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, as well as the quality of public schools and educational gender gaps in the nation’s 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas.
WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said while a higher level of education doesn’t guarantee increased financial opportunities, “it certainly correlates with it.”
“The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level,” he said. “In addition to overall education, it’s also important to look at how well cities promote educational equality when it comes to race and gender.”
The study assigned each metropolitan area a “total score” out of 100, along with numerical rankings for “educational attainment” and “quality of education & attainment gap” categories.
Which California cities are the most, least educated?
Thirteen of the 150 evaluated cities were in California, with two of them ranked in the top 10. One of them, Visalia, ranked last. Here’s the ranking for every California city evaluated:
Complete WalletHub rankings from most to least educated cities in the US:
What attracts highly educated people to a city?
The reasons for the discrepancy in education levels among cities varies, according to WalletHub.
“Cities want to attract highly educated workers to fuel their economic growth and tax revenues. Higher levels of education tend to lead to higher salaries,” the study stated. “Plus, the more that graduates earn, the more tax dollars they contribute over time, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In turn, educated people want to live somewhere where they will get a good return on their educational investment.”
“People also tend to marry others of the same educational level, which means that cities that already have a large educated population may be more attractive to people with degrees,” the study added. “Not all highly educated people will flock to the same areas, though. Some may prefer to have many people with similar education levels around them for socializing and career connections. Others may want to be a big fish in a little pond. Not every city will provide the same quality of life to those with higher education, either.”
Brian Day is a Southern California native. He has covered crime, public safety and breaking news in the region for more than 15 years. He joined the Daily Press in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Making the grade: How Salinas ranks among most, least educated California cities in the US
Reporting by Brian Day and Elizabeth Roberts, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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