Educational Attainment by Metro Area
Educational attainment comparison among the nation’s 50 most populous metros.
Published on 1/15/21
High School Educational Attainment by Metro Area
High School Degree or Higher
Among the nation’s 50 most populous metros, Houston ranks 48th in adult population with a high school diploma or GED.
| Percentage of Population With High School Degree or Higher |
||
| by Metro Area | ||
| Rank | Area | High school graduate or higher |
| 1 | Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area | 94.2% |
| 2 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area | 94.1% |
| 3 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area | 92.8% |
| 4 | Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area | 92.8% |
| 5 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area | 92.8% |
| 6 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area | 92.7% |
| 7 | St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area | 92.5% |
| 8 | Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area | 92.3% |
| 9 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area | 92.2% |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area | 92.2% |
| 11 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area | 92.1% |
| 12 | Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area | 91.7% |
| 13 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area | 91.7% |
| 14 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area | 91.6% |
| 15 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area | 91.6% |
| 16 | Columbus, OH Metro Area | 91.6% |
| 17 | Jacksonville, FL Metro Area | 91.6% |
| 18 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area | 91.2% |
| 19 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT Metro Area | 91.1% |
| 20 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area | 91.0% |
| 21 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area | 91.0% |
| 22 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metro Area | 90.8% |
| 23 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area | 90.8% |
| 24 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area | 90.5% |
| 25 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area | 90.4% |
| 26 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metro Area | 90.4% |
| 27 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area | 90.2% |
| 28 | Richmond, VA Metro Area | 90.1% |
| 29 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area | 90.0% |
| 30 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metro Area | 89.8% |
| 31 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area | 89.8% |
| 32 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area | 89.7% |
| 33 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area | 89.5% |
| 34 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area | 89.4% |
| 35 | Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area | 89.1% |
| 36 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area | 89.1% |
| 37 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area | 88.6% |
| 38 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area | 88.2% |
| 39 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area | 88.2% |
| 40 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area | 88.1% |
| 41 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area | 88.1% |
| 42 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area | 88.0% |
| 43 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area | 87.3% |
| 44 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area | 86.6% |
| 45 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metro Area | 86.3% |
| 46 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area | 85.6% |
| 47 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area | 85.3% |
| 48 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area | 84.6% |
| 49 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area | 82.0% |
| 50 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area | 81.4% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 American Community Survey | ||
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
Among the nation’s 50 most populous metros, Houston ranks 32nd in adult population with a Bachelor's degree or higher.
| Percentage of Population With Bachelor's Degree or Higher |
||
| by Metro Area | ||
| Rank | Area | Bachelor's degree or higher |
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area | 52.7% |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area | 51.4% |
| 3 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area | 51.4% |
| 4 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area | 49.3% |
| 5 | Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area | 48.0% |
| 6 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area | 46.2% |
| 7 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area | 45.8% |
| 8 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area | 44.1% |
| 9 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area | 43.2% |
| 10 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area | 41.9% |
| 11 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area | 41.8% |
| 12 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area | 40.3% |
| 13 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area | 39.9% |
| 14 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area | 39.9% |
| 15 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT Metro Area | 39.7% |
| 16 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area | 39.2% |
| 17 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area | 39.0% |
| 18 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area | 38.5% |
| 19 | Columbus, OH Metro Area | 37.9% |
| 20 | Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area | 37.7% |
| 21 | Richmond, VA Metro Area | 37.6% |
| 22 | Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area | 36.5% |
| 23 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area | 36.4% |
| 24 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area | 36.3% |
| 25 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area | 36.2% |
| 26 | Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area | 36.0% |
| 27 | St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area | 35.8% |
| 28 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area | 35.5% |
| 29 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area | 35.4% |
| 30 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metro Area | 35.2% |
| 31 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area | 34.2% |
| 32 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area | 33.3% |
| 33 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area | 33.3% |
| 34 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area | 33.2% |
| 35 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area | 33.1% |
| 36 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area | 32.9% |
| 37 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area | 32.8% |
| 38 | Jacksonville, FL Metro Area | 32.5% |
| 39 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area | 32.4% |
| 40 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metro Area | 32.3% |
| 41 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area | 32.3% |
| 42 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area | 32.2% |
| 43 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metro Area | 31.7% |
| 44 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area | 31.6% |
| 45 | Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area | 31.5% |
| 46 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area | 30.7% |
| 47 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area | 28.8% |
| 48 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area | 28.8% |
| 49 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metro Area | 25.6% |
| 50 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area | 23.0% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019 American Community Survey | ||
