The Boston area thrives on higher education

Education plays a big role in the lives of Greater Boston residents, and the latest rankings from Degree Query’s 50 Most Educated Places in America confirms its importance.

According to Degree Query, Cambridge is the 18th most-educated area in the country, while the Quincy-Wellesley-Dedham area came in at No. 22.

The list looked at Census data on a county level for the percentage of people 25 and older holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Cambridge, 50.7 percent of the 1,056,080 people that were over the age of 25 held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Cambridge is home to three high schools and ten colleges and universities, with Harvard University and MIT being the city’s top two employers. In Greater Boston, the rate was at just over 49 percent of 469,777.

The highest ranked city on the list was Arlington, VA.

Education Creates Benefits Towards Homebuying

Higher education has always been looked at as a natural step toward success. According to a Better Homes and Gardens survey, 60 percent of Generation Z want to earn an advanced degree, which follows the trend of Millennials and Generation Xers.

The benefits of education are numerous for housing prospects, and Millennials’ struggles post-downturn are a perfect illustration of why. According to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study, college jobs paid on average $78,500 annually, double that of the non-college administrative support sector ($37,207) and nearly four times as much as the low-skilled sector ($23,584). Even though 45 percent of college graduates did work a “non-college” job, only one in five worked in the low-skilled sector. Often these jobs were used as springboards to gain experience in order to get a college job in their field.

Why are such stats important? According to realtor.com, 51 percent of Millennial renters said a new job, promotion or raise would encourage them to purchase a house, and 50 percent said being able to save for a downpayment would also help. Millennials stuck at home or renting have undercut the expected boom of young homeowners, and better wages do far more to encourage home purchases than rising rents or other factors.