A new study released by WalletHub, a personal finance website, has ranked the most and least educated cities in the United States of 2017, with Knoxville ranking 81st on their list of 150.
While WalletHub is a finance website, it also performs studies that, according to their website, are “intended to provide industry transparency for consumers.” These studies focus on areas in the economy, health and education.
The study analyzed data from 150 of the largest areas in the U.S., with Ann Arbor, Michigan being the most educated and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas being the least educated at 150.
For Tennessee, the study’s rankings show a divide in the state pertaining to educational equity. Memphis ranked 114st; Chattanooga ranked 124st; the Nashville metropolitan area ranked 52nd; and Knoxville ranked 81st on their list.
WalletHub gathered information using two methods to compare each metropolitan area.
One method was through educational attainment, which refers to the highest level of education completed. For example, WalletHub looked at the number of people over the age of 25 who have a high school diploma, the number that had a bachelor’s degree and the number that had some college experience or associate’s degree. Educational attainment was weighted at 80 percent.
The second method was known as the “Quality of Education & Attainment Gap.” The quality of education refers to public school rankings, the average quality of universities and total enrollment in the top 231 universities per capita. The attainment gap is defined as the disparity between students grouped by socioeconomic status, race and gender. This was weighted at 20 percent.
With regard to race and gender, Knoxville ranked higher than Nashville in terms of quality of education and attainment gap at 16th. However, Knoxville ranked lower in terms of quality of education compared to Nashville.
According to WalletHub analyst Jil Gonzalez, there are ways for cities that are ranked lower to improve their ranking, and it starts with investing.
“Investing — not necessarily heavily, but efficiently — in public elementary and secondary school systems, as well as in education at all levels, is key,” Gonzalez said. “This doesn’t just include math and reading test scores, but also initiatives that support the arts and sciences through museums, theater or music.”
The common factors found in the lower-ranking cities were the number of adults over the age of 25 without at least a high school diploma or some college experience.
WalletHub experts were curious as to how President Trump’s proposed cuts to education could have an effect on academic achievement throughout all cities.
President Trump has looked to reduce the federal TRiO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs by $200 million and cuts to Child Care Access Means Parents in School, which provides subsidized child care for parents of low-income seeking a degree.
David Folz, UT professor of political science, said Trump’s proposed educational cuts serve only as speculation, since none of the propositions have yet to come into light.
“Keep in mind that the vast majority of education funding comes from state and local governments,” Folz said.
According to Wallethub’s findings, here are the top 10 most and least educated cities in America.
Most Educated Cities
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Washington, D.C.
- San Jose, California
- Durham, North Carolina
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Provo, Utah
- San Francisco, California
- Austin, Texas
- Tallahassee, Florida
Least Educated Cities
- McAllen, Texas
- Brownsville, Texas
- Visalia, California
- Bakersfield, California
- Modesto, California
- Fresno, California
- Salinas, California
- Hickory, North Carolina
- Lafayette, Louisiana
- Beaumont, Texas
