California is disproportionately represented on a list of the nation’s least educated cities, based on rankings released this week by WalletHub.
The personal finance website graded 150 metropolitan areas on factors including the percentage of adults with a high school diploma, college experience or higher education degrees. It also examined the quality of public schools and universities and looked at gender and racial gaps.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, was ranked as the most educated city in the U.S., followed by San Jose, California, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Madison, Wisconsin.
It’s a good showing for the Golden State.
That is, until you look at the bottom of the list, where five California cities were ranked among the 10 least educated cities, according to WalletHub.
The agricultural communities of Visalia (150), Bakersfield (147), Modesto (146), Stockton (145) and Salinas (141) all received poor marks.
WalletHub’s experts also noted that school test scores dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, which only expanded the gap between low-poverty and high-poverty districts. Student absenteeism was also a factor.
“Nearly a third of California public school students were found to be chronically absent [in the 2021-2022 school year] compared to only 14% before the pandemic,” said Joydeep Roy, a visiting professor of economics and education at Columbia University.
Most Educated Cities
| Rank | Metro Area | Total Score | Educational Attainment | Quality of Education & Attainment Gap |
| 1 | Ann Arbor, MI | 94.71 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 83.12 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 82.25 | 2 | 22 |
| 4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | 80.77 | 5 | 14 |
| 5 | Madison, WI | 80.59 | 3 | 54 |
| 6 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | 78.94 | 8 | 4 |
| 7 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 78.81 | 7 | 41 |
| 8 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 78.40 | 6 | 37 |
| 9 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 76.09 | 10 | 12 |
| 10 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | 75.98 | 12 | 6 |
Least Educated Cities
| Rank | Metro Area | Total Score | Educational Attainment | Quality of Education & Attainment Gap |
| 141 | Salinas, CA | 28.66 | 141 | 115 |
| 142 | Corpus Christi, TX | 28.35 | 140 | 141 |
| 143 | Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX | 28.03 | 144 | 85 |
| 144 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 27.66 | 142 | 126 |
| 145 | Stockton, CA | 24.71 | 145 | 98 |
| 146 | Modesto, CA | 19.57 | 146 | 144 |
| 147 | Bakersfield, CA | 17.69 | 147 | 123 |
| 148 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 14.16 | 150 | 8 |
| 149 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 11.21 | 149 | 107 |
| 150 | Visalia, CA | 8.28 | 148 | 149 |
Other California Cities
| Rank | Metro Area | Total Score | Educational Attainment | Quality of Education & Attainment Gap |
| 23 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 67.18 | 26 | 7 |
| 37 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 62.03 | 40 | 49 |
| 47 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 59.41 | 57 | 26 |
| 68 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 54.83 | 87 | 9 |
| 94 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 49.80 | 100 | 42 |
| 136 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 32.59 | 137 | 72 |
| 140 | Fresno, CA | 29.83 | 143 | 48 |
Another WalletHub expert, sociology professor Molly Martin with Pennsylvania State University, explains some of the reasons why cities should invest in education and try to attract educated people.
“Highly educated people increase labor force productivity, and they invest heavily in the next generation,” Martin says. “Because they see the fruits of their knowledge and skills, highly educated people typically view education as the golden ticket for children’s success.”
