The Ten U.S. Metro Areas With Most Educated Young People (SLIDESHOW)

For thousands of college students, graduation is just around the corner. But where will they go once they graduate?

According to 2010 U.S. census data, the Boston metro area leads the United States in the number of young people with college degrees.

Scroll Down For The Top 10 U.S. Cities With The Most Educated Young People

Analysis by the Business Journals "On Numbers" blog gauged education levels in major U.S. metro areas by tabulating the number of people in the 18 to 34 age category who have bachelor's degrees. Metro areas were ranked by the percentage of the population in that demographic that hold college level-degrees or higher.

In Boston, that number is more than 39 percent, or about two-fifths of young people.

Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose, Calif., and Madison, Wis., rounded out the top five. Perhaps not surprisingly, there is some overlap with a Fiscal Times list of the ten best cities for young people to find jobs, and with CNBC's top ten cities for young people, which looked at unemployment rates, cost of living and other factors.

On Numbers reported that "three Sunbelt markets where less than one-tenth of all young adults are college-educated" were among the least-educated metro areas in the country, with Stockton, Calif., and Lakeland, Fla., reporting the lowest percentages of all.

LOOK: Top Ten U.S. Metro Areas With The Most Educated Young People

Loading Slideshow

• 10. Des Moines, IA

  In the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area, 30.80 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 9. Raleigh, NC

  In the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro area, 30.84 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 8. Norwalk, CT

  In the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT metro area, 31.55 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 7. Minneapolis-St. Paul

  In the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI metro area, 32.22 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 6. New York

  In the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA metro area, 33.12 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 5. Madison, WI

  In the Madison, WI metro area, 34.81 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 4. San Jose

  In the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, 35.22 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 3. San Francisco

  In the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, 35.59 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 2. Washington

  In the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area, 37.22 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

• 1. Boston

  In the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH metro area, 39.16 percent of the population aged 18 to 34 have a bachelor's degree or higher. (Wikimedia Commons)

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Comments

[asafeather]

10:34 PM on 11/07/2012

Counting the number of people with college degrees might tell you which cities are the 'most' educated, but it will not tell you which cities are the *best* educated.

[cerebrogasm]

12:31 AM on 05/29/2012

I'm from Boston - it's true - Boston has more colleges and universities per square mile than anywhere else on earth. A good segment of the population of Boston possess more degrees than a thermometer. But, not to disparage my fellow Bostonians, all that sheep skin doesn't always add up to "smart". Smart is what you do with your education - and right now - we need smart people to direct their attention to more utilitarian efforts than the esoteric: we need a stimulated economy that will offer more well-paid, jobs that honor the employee - and not the CEO that absconds away with his own company's profits. We also need highly intelligent leadership that evolves sciences such as medicine, engineering, research, etc. to completely new strata - as well as a whole new breed of sophisticated civil servants to enter government and politics - that would be the smart thing to do over the short sojourn we have on this little blue planet.

[grod805]

02:03 PM on 05/11/2012

I think there's a difference between the headline on the main page "The Top 10 Best Cities for College Grads" and what the actual article title is "Top 10 Cities With Most Educated People"

I don't think i would move somewhere where there is a ton of competition that you can't find a job

[Mildmannered]

11:22 AM on 05/11/2012

that is a cool photo of Boston

[wakeup804]

08:18 PM on 05/10/2012

Anybody that wants to take free college courses, go to Coursera. Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and University of Michigan are offering free courses. You will not get college credit, but you will get a certificate of completion. All of the classes are online. Maaybe this will spark some to go back to school once you see, it isn't that bad. And if nothing else, certificates from any of these universities look pretty good on your resume.

[Goldie Treasure]

01:10 PM on 05/11/2012

Sounds cool, I'll check it out.

[wakeup804]

02:45 PM on 05/11/2012

For free, and considering the universities, it's a win/win. Good luck!!!!

[Nancy Mac]

07:52 PM on 05/10/2012

So I assume that those "educated young people" are the only ones that voted against Amendment 1 in NC?Here's hoping these same young people can get this horrific law wiped off the books soon.

[isfturtle]

08:12 PM on 05/10/2012

Yep. Counties with major schools and with higher percentages of people ages 25+ were the ones that voted against.

[Jeff Geez]

11:53 AM on 05/11/2012

Of course. I think Amendment 1 is the case everyone was waiting for, and the one our SCOTUS will use to finally relegate legitimized gay bashing, in this case civil gay bashing, to the same historical dungheap as racism. Amendment 1 goes way too far to ever pass constitutional muster, federally, I suspect it was designed that way.

[sheaftosser]

07:21 PM on 05/10/2012

I don't understand how Seattle and Portland, OR are not on this list....both are fairly crawling with educated twenty-somethings.

[vdorsey1]

10:50 PM on 05/11/2012

Yeah I thought for sure I would see Seattle.

[cerebrogasm]

12:44 AM on 05/29/2012

I'm from Boston - but I'm re-locating to Seattle - from out here where I currently am stranded - Las Vegas. One of the things that attracted me to Seattle (and Portland) was that these were states also known for an educated population. San Francisco was on the list - except that I'm not crazy about the earth moving under my feet.

One thing to keep in mind - education per se doesn't always result in "smart". I've met some really "smart" people in the middle of Iowa corn fields or working in oil refineries in Texas and Oklahoma - "smart" - equipped with education - is a worldview that encompasses a healthy dose of skepticism - about everything - and an almost subconscious desire to improve the thriving of humanity - and although the cities in this list might be places to best secure the educational component of "smart" - "smart" is everywhere. Of course, that's just my opinion.

[ssoodak]

07:19 PM on 05/10/2012

shh, dont let Rick Santorum know your city is on this list!

[kyeshinka]

05:08 PM on 05/10/2012

I was surprised with Des Moines ranking, considering there's only a small private university there. Plus it doesn't cost a fortune to live there.

[getalittlesneakpeek]

04:01 PM on 05/10/2012

yay! DMV represent!

[mynameisGEOFF]

03:49 PM on 05/10/2012

I think they missed Detroit! Lots of kids... are... educa... ted... Yeah...

[scorpian777]

03:28 PM on 05/10/2012

KNOWN**

[scorpian777]

03:27 PM on 05/10/2012

Boston is know for being liberal! I think this is wrong!~~

[nmeemn]

05:11 PM on 05/10/2012

Boston is a bastion of liberalism and it also has several of the best universities in the country. That's not a coincidence.

Neither is the fact that West Virginia has the lowest number of teeth per capita in the U.S.

[scorpian777]

05:23 PM on 05/10/2012

Teeth?

[Tony Twohill]

05:57 PM on 05/10/2012

study after study shows that more educated people have a greater tendancy to be liberal than conservative.
Why do you think the right always yells about the "Liberal education system."
They're made because, they say, the schools indoctrinate students. What is really going on is that education opens up people's brains and they start to think, instead of relying on religion, ignorance, and Faux News Channel to form thoughts for them.
The more people get educated, the more liberals we'll have. And nowadays, the real welfare queens are the uneducated population because good middle class jobs that do not require college degrees are mostly overseas. So I guess you can say that Conservatives leach off the government more than liberals. Study's show that to be true also. Cheerio.

[scorpian777]

07:47 PM on 05/10/2012

I don't think it works that way maybe for you!! I think its all in the teachings!! and by whom!!!

[cosmiCataclysm]

09:37 PM on 05/10/2012

The terms "liberal" and "conservatives" lead the easily confused away from the true point. More education leads you to more rational conclusions. As you gain the tools that allow you to investigate an issue, hear the facts, peel back the layers, and truly understand it, you are less likely to make fast, base conclusions rooted in folksy wisdom and pure lack of evidence.

[Matt Thornton]

03:04 PM on 05/10/2012

no red states? who would have guessed?

[baydolphins]

04:01 PM on 05/10/2012

very astute ;-))))

[heymack]

04:55 PM on 05/10/2012

A lot of basket weaving degrees in those blue states throw it off.  Their counter parts are busy starting businesses and taking over the family business I guess.

[kyeshinka]

05:07 PM on 05/10/2012

You know of a lot of people with basket weaving degrees? Geez, find some new material. Creativity isn't one of your strongest suits.

[nmeemn]

05:14 PM on 05/10/2012

Oh yes, because Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Brandeis, Northeastern, Tufts and Boston University base their reputations on "basket weaving" classes.

And if by "taking over the family business" you mean taking over collecting welfare checks and selling moonshine, then yes, the red states definitely win there.

[beckym1488]

02:03 PM on 05/10/2012

I knew Boston would be number 1. The thing with the San Francisco one is they mostly major in Liberal Arts. Doesn't necessarily make you intelligent.

[Pesach Perlin]

02:59 PM on 05/10/2012

Don't be so sure. There are a lot of biotechnology, chemistry, and pharmaceutical companies in the bay area.

[nmeemn]

05:15 PM on 05/10/2012

Very few people major in "Liberal Arts." Furthermore, the Humanities and Social Sciences promote critical thinking, which is generally associated with intelligence.