Workforce Education

A weighted measure of the educational attainment (advanced degrees, bachelor's degrees, or some college course work) of the workforce.7

Why Is This Important? An educated workforce is critical to increasing productivity and fostering innovation. In fact, knowledge-based jobs (those requiring post secondary, vocational, or higher education) grew from 27 percent of total employment in 1983 to 31 percent in 1993, and are expected to grow to more than 33 percent in 2006. Metro areas with a more educated workforce are better positioned to capitalize on this trend.

Knowledge workers are important not only because the principal factor determining where high-tech firms locate is an adequate supply of skilled labor, but also because their presence boosts incomes. Paul Gottlieb found that from 1980 to 1997, the per capita incomes of metro areas with the most educated populations grew 1.8 percent in real terms per year, while those with the least-educated populations grew only 0.8 percent per year.8

Finally, entrepreneurs are more likely to have higher levels of education, and as entrepreneurial start-ups become more important to a region's economic success, having more knowledge workers increases entrepreneurial activity.

The Rankings: More highly educated individuals are more likely to move than less-educated individuals.9 As a result, metro areas that have attracted large numbers of people from other parts of the United States generally have a more educated workforce (e.g., San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Denver). Similarly, metro areas with strong higher education systems (e.g., Austin, Raleigh, Boston) also score well. Meanwhile, many metros with a low score have experienced net out-migration (for example, Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Milwaukee), have seen high levels of immigration from developing nations (e.g., Los Angeles, San Antonio, Miami), or have invested less in education (e.g. Greensboro, New Orleans, the Florida metros, Memphis).

100th-76th Percentile

75th-51st Percentile

50th-26th Percentile

25th-1st Percentile

METRO AREAS BY RANK
Rank	Metro Area	Score
1	Washington	0.74
2	San Francisco	0.69
3	Denver	0.68
4	Minneapolis	0.68
5	Austin	0.67
6	Raleigh-Durham	0.66
7	Richmond	0.65
8	Houston	0.65
9	Seattle	0.64
10	Oklahoma City	0.64
11	Rochester	0.64
12	San Diego	0.63
13	Boston	0.63
14	New York	0.63
15	Sacramento	0.63
16	Salt Lake City	0.62
17	Norfolk	0.62
18	Buffalo	0.62
19	Cincinnati	0.61
20	Charlotte	0.61
21	Portland	0.61
22	Dayton	0.61
23	Philadelphia	0.60
24	Atlanta	0.60
25	Nashville	0.60
26	Cleveland	0.60
27	Columbus	0.59
28	Hartford	0.58
29	Pittsburgh	0.58
30	Detroit	0.58
31	Dallas	0.57
32	Milwaukee	0.56
33	Indianapolis	0.55
34	Las Vegas	0.55
35	St. Louis	0.54
36	Chicago	0.53
37	Louisville	0.53
38	Miami	0.53
39	Jacksonville	0.53
40	New Orleans	0.53
41	Memphis	0.53
42	Kansas City	0.52
43	Phoenix	0.52
44	Orlando	0.50
45	West Palm Beach	0.49
46	Greensboro	0.48
47	Tampa	0.46
48	Grand Rapids	0.45
49	San Antonio	0.44
50	Los Angeles	0.44
	U.S. Average	0.48
	Top 50 Metro Average	0.59

ALPHABETICALLY
Metro Area	Rank	Score
Atlanta	24	0.60
Austin	5	0.67
Boston	13	0.63
Buffalo	18	0.62
Charlotte	20	0.61
Chicago	36	0.53
Cincinnati	19	0.61
Cleveland	26	0.60
Columbus	27	0.59
Dallas	31	0.57
Dayton	22	0.61
Denver	3	0.68
Detroit	30	0.58
Grand Rapids	48	0.45
Greensboro	46	0.48
Hartford	28	0.58
Houston	8	0.65
Indianapolis	33	0.55
Jacksonville	39	0.53
Kansas City	42	0.52
Las Vegas	34	0.55
Los Angeles	50	0.44
Louisville	37	0.53
Memphis	41	0.53
Miami	38	0.53
Milwaukee	32	0.56
Minneapolis	4	0.68
Nashville	25	0.60
New Orleans	40	0.53
New York	14	0.63
Norfolk	17	0.62
Oklahoma City	10	0.64
Orlando	44	0.50
Philadelphia	23	0.60
Phoenix	43	0.52
Pittsburgh	29	0.58
Portland	21	0.61
Raleigh-Durham	6	0.66
Richmond	7	0.65
Rochester	11	0.64
Sacramento	15	0.63
Salt Lake City	16	0.62
San Antonio	49	0.44
San Diego	12	0.63
San Francisco	2	0.69
Seattle	9	0.64
St. Louis	35	0.54
Tampa	47	0.46
Washington	1	0.74
West Palm Beach	45	0.49

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The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)
Technology, Innovation, and New Economy Project
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