The Cities Where a Master's Degree Is Just Average
14.1% of American adults hold a graduate or professional degree — a master's, doctorate, law, or medical degree. Rankings of "most educated cities" usually stop at the bachelor's degree, which blurs an important distinction: the places that collect advanced degrees are a much rarer and more specific set. We ranked every US city with at least 20,000 residents by graduate-degree share and found 179 where the figure reaches 30% or more — roughly triple the national rate.
The leader, Lexington, MA, posts 58.6% — meaning an adult picked at random there is more likely to hold a graduate degree than the average American adult is to hold any degree at all. Bethesda, MD follows at 58.1%.
Key Findings
- 179 US cities have 30%+ of adults holding graduate or professional degrees — versus 14.1% nationally.
- Lexington, MA leads the country at 58.6%.
- California has the most graduate-degree capitals (29), ahead of Virginia (17).
- The list splits into two types — university towns and elite professional suburbs — distinguishable by their income columns.
Top 10 by Graduate-Degree Share (Adults 25+)
The 100 Cities With the Highest Graduate-Degree Rates
| # | City | Graduate Degree | Bachelor's+ | Median Income | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lexington, MA | 58.6% | 84.3% | $238,444 | 34,295 |
| 2 | Bethesda, MD | 58.1% | 87.1% | $192,237 | 69,397 |
| 3 | Brookline, MA | 57.9% | 85.4% | $142,101 | 63,266 |
| 4 | Princeton, NJ | 56.8% | 84.7% | $192,079 | 30,756 |
| 5 | Wellesley, MA | 56.7% | 89.0% | $250,000+ | 30,347 |
| 6 | McLean, VA | 56.5% | 84.3% | $250,000+ | 49,627 |
| 7 | Potomac, MD | 55.7% | 84.9% | $236,675 | 45,902 |
| 8 | Los Altos, CA | 55.7% | 88.1% | $250,000+ | 30,698 |
| 9 | Palo Alto, CA | 55.0% | 82.3% | $231,101 | 67,237 |
| 10 | Newton, MA | 53.0% | 81.1% | $190,304 | 89,044 |
| 11 | Amherst Town, MA | 53.0% | 75.6% | $66,968 | 38,182 |
| 12 | Belmont, MA | 51.6% | 80.9% | $183,137 | 27,175 |
| 13 | Cambridge, MA | 51.2% | 80.8% | $130,748 | 118,796 |
| 14 | Winchester, MA | 50.8% | 79.5% | $230,198 | 23,406 |
| 15 | Wilmette, IL | 49.5% | 83.6% | $190,662 | 27,503 |
| 16 | Needham, MA | 49.3% | 81.9% | $214,308 | 32,459 |
| 17 | Cupertino, CA | 48.6% | 82.3% | $234,707 | 58,566 |
| 18 | Ann Arbor, MI | 48.0% | 77.9% | $82,212 | 122,036 |
| 19 | Arlington, MA | 46.5% | 76.1% | $150,701 | 46,350 |
| 20 | Saratoga, CA | 46.4% | 81.1% | $250,000+ | 30,319 |
| 21 | North Bethesda, MD | 45.4% | 75.1% | $129,092 | 49,677 |
| 22 | Chapel Hill, NC | 45.2% | 76.6% | $85,989 | 61,607 |
| 23 | Mountain View (Santa Clara County), CA | 45.1% | 75.0% | $189,917 | 83,732 |
| 24 | Menlo Park, CA | 45.0% | 72.5% | $210,025 | 32,727 |
| 25 | West Lafayette, IN | 44.8% | 73.3% | $34,891 | 45,159 |
| 26 | Mercer Island, WA | 44.7% | 81.5% | $219,069 | 25,307 |
| 27 | Davis, CA | 44.5% | 76.8% | $90,045 | 66,978 |
| 28 | University Park, TX | 44.0% | 90.8% | $250,000+ | 25,155 |
| 29 | Ithaca, NY | 43.7% | 67.7% | $48,784 | 32,814 |
| 30 | Carrboro, NC | 43.5% | 69.9% | $85,743 | 21,204 |
| 31 | Merrifield, VA | 43.4% | 76.2% | $136,373 | 20,698 |
| 32 | North Potomac, MD | 42.5% | 77.2% | $186,514 | 23,922 |
| 33 | Decatur, GA | 42.2% | 76.3% | $139,397 | 24,518 |
| 34 | Berkeley, CA | 42.0% | 74.9% | $108,092 | 120,257 |
| 35 | Tysons, VA | 41.8% | 79.3% | $129,818 | 28,936 |
| 36 | Arlington, VA | 41.7% | 77.1% | $142,114 | 236,254 |
| 37 | Coral Gables, FL | 41.5% | 73.6% | $134,216 | 49,802 |
| 38 | State College, PA | 41.3% | 68.4% | $45,424 | 41,050 |
| 39 | Birmingham, MI | 41.2% | 76.8% | $153,510 | 21,763 |
| 40 | Foster City, CA | 40.6% | 73.8% | $199,143 | 32,792 |
| 41 | Okemos, MI | 40.5% | 72.8% | $102,612 | 26,396 |
| 42 | Brambleton, VA | 40.5% | 79.8% | $238,018 | 24,537 |
| 43 | Boulder, CO | 40.4% | 76.8% | $87,493 | 106,433 |
| 44 | Blacksburg, VA | 40.4% | 69.2% | $50,182 | 45,446 |
| 45 | Shaker Heights, OH | 40.3% | 69.3% | $104,073 | 28,922 |
| 46 | Evanston, IL | 39.7% | 69.5% | $96,434 | 76,340 |
| 47 | Oakton, VA | 39.5% | 74.5% | $160,663 | 36,528 |
| 48 | Niskayuna, NY | 39.5% | 67.4% | $134,052 | 21,227 |
| 49 | Mountain Brook, AL | 39.5% | 88.6% | $201,479 | 22,029 |
| 50 | Northbrook, IL | 39.3% | 72.6% | $157,782 | 34,585 |
| 51 | East Lansing, MI | 39.2% | 66.6% | $45,687 | 45,758 |
| 52 | Sunnyvale, CA | 39.2% | 69.3% | $186,170 | 154,236 |
| 53 | Catalina Foothills, AZ | 39.1% | 71.4% | $115,304 | 52,593 |
| 54 | Highland Park, IL | 39.1% | 76.9% | $168,094 | 30,398 |
| 55 | Garden City, NY | 39.1% | 75.9% | $244,152 | 22,941 |
| 56 | Milton, MA | 39.0% | 72.0% | $188,529 | 28,587 |
| 57 | Upper Arlington, OH | 39.0% | 79.8% | $155,167 | 36,293 |
| 58 | Oak Park, IL | 38.7% | 72.5% | $110,820 | 53,292 |
| 59 | Redmond, WA | 38.6% | 75.3% | $162,560 | 77,353 |
| 60 | Brighton, NY | 38.3% | 68.6% | $85,467 | 36,834 |
| 61 | Westfield, NJ | 38.2% | 78.1% | $232,629 | 31,111 |
| 62 | Rockville, MD | 38.1% | 65.6% | $128,649 | 67,671 |
| 63 | Washington, DC | 38.0% | 64.3% | $109,870 | 681,294 |
| 64 | Los Gatos, CA | 37.9% | 75.0% | $217,554 | 32,786 |
| 65 | Lafayette, CA | 37.8% | 79.0% | $228,250 | 25,285 |
| 66 | San Carlos, CA | 37.6% | 70.2% | $237,470 | 29,614 |
| 67 | Bethany, OR | 37.6% | 71.7% | $167,735 | 33,106 |
| 68 | Ridgewood, NJ | 37.4% | 80.1% | $208,211 | 26,308 |
| 69 | Sammamish, WA | 37.3% | 77.1% | $239,690 | 66,463 |
| 70 | Ellicott City, MD | 37.1% | 68.8% | $156,964 | 75,257 |
| 71 | Oxford, OH | 36.8% | 61.1% | $40,764 | 21,753 |
| 72 | Marblehead, MA | 36.8% | 78.3% | $182,132 | 20,413 |
| 73 | Summit, NJ | 36.6% | 72.5% | $190,304 | 22,705 |
| 74 | Manhattan Beach, CA | 36.5% | 78.9% | $204,306 | 34,210 |
| 75 | Chesterfield, MO | 36.5% | 72.5% | $133,037 | 49,574 |
| 76 | Louisville, CO | 36.5% | 69.9% | $147,319 | 20,786 |
| 77 | Athens, OH | 36.5% | 64.1% | $38,204 | 23,396 |
| 78 | Urbana, IL | 36.4% | 56.8% | $45,346 | 39,341 |
| 79 | Leawood, KS | 36.3% | 73.7% | $185,625 | 33,809 |
| 80 | Bainbridge Island, WA | 36.3% | 76.4% | $172,188 | 24,631 |
| 81 | Bellevue, WA | 36.0% | 72.1% | $165,576 | 151,847 |
| 82 | Watertown, MA | 35.8% | 66.5% | $126,265 | 35,543 |
| 83 | Northampton, MA | 35.8% | 62.7% | $80,288 | 30,962 |
| 84 | Towson, MD | 35.8% | 69.3% | $101,320 | 58,679 |
| 85 | Hudson, OH | 35.7% | 75.3% | $171,427 | 23,039 |
| 86 | Charlottesville, VA | 35.6% | 62.5% | $74,824 | 45,437 |
| 87 | Plainview, NY | 35.4% | 68.4% | $189,906 | 25,982 |
| 88 | Santa Clara, CA | 35.3% | 65.9% | $178,958 | 130,256 |
| 89 | Dublin, OH | 35.3% | 73.4% | $160,296 | 49,294 |
| 90 | Morgantown, WV | 35.2% | 58.5% | $44,727 | 30,236 |
| 91 | Southlake, TX | 34.9% | 74.6% | $250,000+ | 31,137 |
| 92 | Calabasas, CA | 34.9% | 73.3% | $165,288 | 22,669 |
| 93 | Columbia, MD | 34.9% | 63.6% | $131,490 | 104,338 |
| 94 | Belmont, CA | 34.8% | 69.7% | $205,297 | 27,337 |
| 95 | Union Hill-Novelty Hill, WA | 34.8% | 71.7% | $185,369 | 23,047 |
| 96 | Alexandria, VA | 34.8% | 66.2% | $119,681 | 156,976 |
| 97 | Morrisville, NC | 34.6% | 72.7% | $125,396 | 31,422 |
| 98 | Reston, VA | 34.5% | 72.0% | $148,710 | 64,414 |
| 99 | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | 34.5% | 70.5% | $179,623 | 40,864 |
| 100 | Burke, VA | 34.5% | 68.5% | $185,818 | 44,029 |
Limited to places with at least 20,000 residents.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.
Two Species of Degree Capital
Sort this list mentally by its income column and it cleaves into two species. The first is the university town — home to faculty, researchers, and graduate students — where advanced-degree shares are enormous but median incomes are moderate, held down by the student households described in our college-towns analysis. The second is the elite professional suburb: bedroom communities of physicians, attorneys, and executives orbiting major metros, where the same degree share coincides with some of the highest household incomes in the country.
The distinction matters because the two accumulate degrees in opposite ways. University towns produce credential-holders, most of whom leave; professional suburbs collect them, decades after graduation. A city appearing on this list and on the richest cities ranking is almost certainly the second type.
The Steepest Gradient in American Geography
Advanced education is arguably the most geographically concentrated attribute the Census measures. Household income varies about threefold between rich and poor cities; graduate-degree share varies more than tenfold between this list and the cities at the bottom of the distribution. That concentration compounds: graduate-heavy cities attract the employers that require such degrees, which attracts more degree-holders. The state-level picture — much flatter, but showing the same coastal-and-college-town pattern — is in the most educated states ranking.
How We Did This Analysis
Every US place with at least 20,000 residents was ranked by the share of adults 25 and older holding a graduate or professional degree (master's, doctorate, law, medicine, or similar; ACS 5-Year Estimates). The 30% threshold used for the headline count is roughly triple the national rate of 14.1%.
All figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates. Because estimates pool five years of survey responses, small differences between closely ranked entries may fall within the survey's margin of error. Learn more on our methodology page or at data.census.gov.
More Data Insights
Frequently Asked Questions
What US city has the most graduate degrees?
Lexington, Massachusetts has the highest graduate-degree rate of any US city with 20,000+ residents: 58.6% of adults 25+ hold a graduate or professional degree, nearly 4 times the national rate.
What share of Americans have a graduate degree?
14.1% of US adults 25 and older hold a graduate or professional degree, and 35.7% hold at least a bachelor's degree.
How is this different from the most educated cities ranking?
The most educated cities ranking measures bachelor's degrees or higher among cities with 50,000+ residents. This analysis isolates graduate and professional degrees specifically, and includes smaller cities — which surfaces university towns and professional enclaves that the broader measure blends together.