Greater Boston is the most highly educated area in the United States
Three of the 10 most educated places in America are located in Greater Boston, according to a new analysis by NerdWallet.
The study, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data on the educational levels of residents in more than 2,000 communities, ranked Brookline as the second-most educated place in the U.S., with Newton at No. 7 and Lexington at No. 8; Cambridge just missed the top 10 at No. 11.
Below, we’ve charted out the top 10 places in NerdWallet’s list, along with four of the most notable statistics that the website’s analyses used:
| City | Residents w/ a bachelor’s degree | Residents w/ a master’s degree | Residents w/ a doctorate | Residents w/ a professional degree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bethesda, Maryland | 81.1% | 27.4% | 10.7% | 15.6% |
| 2. Brookline, Massachusetts | 80.0% | 25.4% | 13.4% | 13.8% |
| 3. Potomac, Maryland | 80.8% | 26.7% | 9.7% | 15.5% |
| 4. Palo Alto, California | 79.9% | 28.7% | 13.4% | 9.3% |
| 5. McLean, Virginia | 80.8% | 29.0% | 7.4% | 13.4% |
| 6. Princeton, New Jersey | 79.6% | 28.5% | 16.2% | 8.3% |
| 7. Newton, Massachusetts | 76.6% | 26.1% | 10.9% | 12.0% |
| 8. Lexington, Massachusetts | 76.1% | 29.5% | 14.1% | 7.7% |
| 9. Chapel Hill, North Carolina | 76.5% | 24.3% | 14.2% | 8.2% |
| 10. Cupertino, California | 76.7% | 31.0% | 8.0% | 4.0% |
Photo credit: John Phelan, Creative Commons 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Devotion_School,_Brookline_MA.jpg.