America is known as a nation that prides itself on first class education and while some cities dwindle, a number of them rank highly when it comes to learning.
The Census Bureau recently ranked the 10 smartest cities in the U.S. based on the percentage of residents with college degrees and their results may surprise you.
From the East Coast to the West Coast to the South check out the ten smartest cities in America below.
10.) New York
New York is the 10th smartest city in the America with 35.6% of the population graduating with a bachelors degree. The nation’s third most populous state also made our list of “10 Best Places To Live For African-Americans.”
Notable Schools: New York University, Columbia, St. John’s
9.) Seattle
Seattle is officially the 9th smartest city in the country with 37.4% of its residents obtaining their college degrees. In addition to education, Seattle was previously noted for having 91.9 percent of residents obtaining their high school diploma.
Notable Schools: The University Of Washington
8.) Denver
37.6% of residents in Denver, Colorado have their bachelors degree according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The city is known for also being the 24th most populous city with a population of 2,552,192 in 2009.
Notable Schools: University of Wales, Johnson & Wales
7.) Minneapolis
Minneapolis is the 7th smartest city in America with 37.6% of residents obtaining their bachelor’s. The largest city in the state of Minnesota can brag not only about their academics but also about being named the country’s “Most Literate City.”
Notable Schools: University Of Minnesota
6.) Austin, TX
The saying “Everything’s bigger in Texas”, works well for this city who ranks 6th on the list considering that 38.7% of Austin residents have obtained their college degree. While Austin is known for its smarts, its sister cities of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio …. And all ranked highly on our list of “Fattest Cities.”
Notable Schools: The University Of Texas At Austin
5.) Boston
Boston, Massachusetts has been named the fifth smartest city in the nation with 42.2% of the population holding college degrees. The city is known for academics after being home to Boston University and of course, Harvard.
Notable Schools: Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University
4.) Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, North Carolina ranks highly on the list of smartest cities with 42.2% of the population receiving their bachelors. Raleigh is continuing to receive praise and was previously ranked one of the top cities for African Americans.
Notable Schools: North Carolina State University, Shaw University
3.) San Jose, CA
Located in the Silicon Valley, San Jose ranks third with 43.2% of the population holding bachelor degrees.
Notable schools: San Jose State University
2.) San Francisco
San Francisco is the second smartest city in the country with 43.5% of the population 25 or older with bachelor degrees.
Notable schools: San Francisco State University, University of San Francisco.
1.) Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. has officially been named the smartest city in the country with 47.3% of the population 25 or older with bachelor’s degrees.
Washington’s numbers are especially impressive considering that the national average barely tips 25% and boasts the highest median household income of any metro area of more than 1 million residents.
D.C. is also noted for its well respected local universities including Howard and Georgetown.
