Florida doesn’t fare very well on a study analyzing the education levels in 150 of the largest cities in the United States.
Based on the WalletHub analysis, Tallahassee is the smartest major city coming in at number 11. But the next Florida city to land on the list is the Sarasota-Bradenton area coming in at number 56.
The study looked at data for people age 25 or older with high school diplomas, bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees. Also ranked in the study were Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Fort Myers, Ocala and Lakeland.
Lakeland is the dumbest Florida city coming in at number 145 on the list. Ocala didn’t fare much better at number 140.
With only Tallahassee being “highly educated” and the rest of large Florida cities falling under either moderately educated or uneducated, Florida could stand to boost it’s smartness.
According to researchers, cities with a more educated population tend to be better off fiscally than others. The average income level is higher and the tax revenue increases.
“Because an educated work force creates opportunities directly and indirectly for everyone — better schools, more thoughtful voters, a population more committed to a vision larger than the next paycheck, a population more available via social media for civic discussion/debate,” said Roxana Bacon, former chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services.
The study also found Naples as the nation’s worst city for education gaps between white people and black people. The Naples area came in at 150 for the disparity between white and black bachelor’s degree holders. Port St. Lucie was fourth worst.
Florida didn’t land in the top or bottom five of any other categories studied including the education gap between men and women, proximity to quality colleges and level of overall education.
New Haven, Conn., was number one on proximity to quality colleges. The New England town is home to Yale University.
Top cities were Ann Arbor, Mich., the Washington, D.C., area, Madison, Wis., Provo-Orem, Utah, and Colorado Springs, Colo.
