Most and least educated cities in Washington

Education in this country, to my way of thinking, is the bedrock of all the prosperity that America is built on. When you look at great innovators in American history it all starts with education.  

It's safe to say that not all but most highly educated people want to flock to an area with more highly educated people. A lot of times though its business pressures that push you where you wind up living and working. 

Recently, wallethub.com did a study to research the top 150 cities for education Levels in the population. 

According to wallethub.com,
‘To determine where the most educated Americans are putting their degrees to work, WalletHub compared the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across 11 key metrics. Our data set ranges from the share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher to the quality of the public-school system to the gender education gap’ 

First off, let's take a look at the top five cities. 

Number 5 was Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, with a quality of education & attainment gap rank of 35, and an education attainment Rank of 3. 

Number 4 was San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 16, and an education attainment rank of 5. 

Number 3 was Madison, WI, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 49, and an education attainment rank of 2. 

Number 2 was Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 1, and an education attainment rank of 6. 

The number one city. 

Ann Arbor, MI, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 4, and an education attainment rank of 1. 

So, these high-ranking cities are kind of spread around the map. Let's take a look at the five lowest ranking metropolitan areas of the 150 surveyed. 

The bottom 5 cities. 

Number 146, Modesto, CA, with a quality of education and then attainment gap rank of 145, and an education attainment rank of 146. 

Number 147, Bakersfield, CA, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 123, and an education attainment rank of 147. 

Number 148, Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 15, and an education attainment rank of 150. 

Number 149, Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 88, and an education attainment rank of 148. 

And the least educated city. 

Number 150, Visalia, CA, with a quality of education and attainment gap rank of 147, and an education attainment rank of 148. 

It's interesting to note that we have a cluster in California and Texas. 

How about the Northwest. 

Number 9 on the list was Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. 

Number 16 on the list. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 

Number 34, Eugene-Springfield, OR 

Number 52, Boise City, ID 

Number 61, Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 

Number 124, Salem, OR 

Very interesting statistics, but when you look at them, do they actually help you to determine what metro area you would like to live in? Obviously, I would like to have a higher-ranking metro area for the education opportunities for my children. 

Certainly, that would rank high for people planning to have families. Also, keep in mind that this research only covers the top 150 metros. There are lots of smaller towns and metro areas in the United States that have excellent education programs. 

But for me lifestyle would also need to rank high on my list of wants. How about you?