The Rust Belt and Sunbelt Cities That Are Gaining College Grads

CityLab's Richard Florida and Karen King, Florida's colleague at the Martin Prosperity Institute, recently took a dive into the most recent Census data on the geography of talent, looking at two key measures in all 350-plus American metros: the share of adults (25 years of age and older) with a bachelor’s degree and above, and the share with a graduate or professional degree, plus the percent change in the shares of these groups, and the rate of change per 1,000 people.

In the 10 largest metros, Portland tops the list for percent change in the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, followed by Indianapolis and Kansas City. Pittsburgh takes ninth place, ahead of Seattle. Providence and Charlotte join San Jose and San Francisco. Conversely, the large metros with the lowest rate of change were Minneapolis–St. Paul (3.5 percent) and Cleveland (2.4 percent), far below the national rate of 7.5 percent. However, Washington, D.C. (3.9 percent) and New York and Austin (both 4.4 percent) also had relatively low rates of increase.

When we consider the highly educated as a share of total population, the pattern reverts to the expected. Whether on the score of bachelor’s degrees and above or graduate and professional degrees, established knowledge and tech centers rise to the top.

Across America, slightly more than 30 percent (31.2 percent) of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Washington, D.C., the perennial lead, takes first spot here, with more than half of adults holding a bachelor’s degree or above. San Jose, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, Denver, Seattle, and New York all number among the top 10. The large metros with the lowest shares of bachelor’s holders are Riverside (21 percent) and Las Vegas (23.3 percent), with shares less than half of D.C.’s. Cleveland’s and Detroit’s shares are roughly 30 percent, while Pittsburgh’s and Nashville’s are about 34 percent, considerably behind the leading metros.