National ranking · Top 100 · data updated July 2026

The 100 Most Educated Cities

Ranking the top 100 US cities by bachelor's+, drawn straight from U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023).

100
Cities ranked
#1
Clemson University
100.0%
Bachelor's+

Data updated July 2026

The headline finding

Clemson University, SC tops this list at 100.0% bachelor's+, making the top 100 requires at least 78.9%.

Clemson University, SC
#1 · 100.0%
78.9%
#100 cutoff
100
cities in this ranking

Every figure here is read live from the same U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023) data rendered in the table below.

These 100 cities span 22 states. California has the most entries on this list: 15 (15% of the total). California state page.

How we calculate the state breakdown

The state count and leader above are a live tally of this list's own 100 rows, grouped by state. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.

Top 12 cities by bachelor's+

Hover or tap a bar for the city, value and rank

Bachelor's+

What this shows Clemson University, South Carolina ranks #1 on bachelor's+ among the cities in this ranking; the full top 100 is listed below.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023), Table S1501 As of July 2026
Rank City Bachelor's+
1 Clemson University , SC 100.0%
2 University at Buffalo , NY 97.3%
3 Stanford , CA 91.1%
4 Scarsdale , NY 90.7%
5 West University Place , TX 90.5%
6 University Park , TX 90.4%
7 Short Hills , NJ 90.0%
8 Villanova , PA 88.7%
9 Mountain Brook , AL 88.4%
10 Rutgers University-Busch Campus , NJ 88.4%
11 Highland Park , TX 88.3%
12 Glencoe , IL 88.2%
13 Hanover , NH 88.0%
14 Ladue , MO 87.8%
15 Winnetka , IL 87.3%
16 Los Altos , CA 87.2%
17 Bethesda , MD 87.1%
18 Wellesley , MA 87.1%
19 Rochester Institute of Technology , NY 86.9%
20 Piedmont , CA 86.8%
21 Fox Chapel , PA 86.8%
22 Glendale , MO 86.6%
23 Irvington , NY 86.0%
24 Atherton , CA 85.9%
25 Fulton , MD 85.9%
26 Great Falls , VA 85.7%
27 Los Altos Hills , CA 85.6%
28 Upper Montclair , NJ 85.5%
29 Orinda , CA 85.4%
30 Merion Station , PA 85.3%
31 McLean , VA 85.1%
32 Brookline , MA 85.0%
33 Lexington , MA 85.0%
34 Wyndham , VA 84.9%
35 Druid Hills , GA 84.9%
36 Chatham , NJ 84.7%
37 Princeton , NJ 84.6%
38 Wilmette , IL 84.6%
39 Potomac , MD 84.5%
40 Old Greenwich , CT 84.3%
41 Wolf Trap , VA 84.2%
42 Clayton , MO 83.8%
43 Glen Ridge , NJ 83.4%
44 Sharon , MA 83.4%
45 Larchmont , NY 83.3%
46 Cupertino , CA 83.1%
47 Hoboken , NJ 83.1%
48 Difficult Run , VA 83.1%
49 Cherry Hills , CO 83.0%
50 Noroton , CT 82.8%
51 Deerfield , IL 82.7%
52 Hillsborough , CA 82.7%
53 South Kensington , MD 82.7%
54 East Grand Rapids , MI 82.6%
55 Palo Alto , CA 82.4%
56 Huntington Woods , MI 82.2%
57 Western Springs , IL 82.0%
58 Kingston , RI 82.0%
59 South Run , VA 81.9%
60 Lake Bluff , IL 81.8%
61 Bellaire , TX 81.7%
62 Northfield , IL 81.7%
63 Whitefish Bay , WI 81.5%
64 Kensington , CA 81.4%
65 Hinsdale , IL 81.3%
66 Saratoga , CA 81.2%
67 Moraga , CA 81.0%
68 East Hills , NY 81.0%
69 Fair Haven , NJ 81.0%
70 Travilah , MD 80.9%
71 Pepper Pike , OH 80.9%
72 Needham , MA 80.8%
73 Lake Forest , IL 80.8%
74 North Hills , NY 80.8%
75 Newton , MA 80.7%
76 Ridgewood , NJ 80.6%
77 Rye , NY 80.5%
78 Des Peres , MO 80.5%
79 Cambridge , MA 80.2%
80 Belmont , MA 80.2%
81 San Marino , CA 80.2%
82 Notre Dame , IN 80.2%
83 Dunn Loring , VA 79.8%
84 Little Silver , NJ 79.8%
85 Tysons , VA 79.7%
86 Falls Church , VA 79.7%
87 Marvin , NC 79.7%
88 Hingham , MA 79.6%
89 Briar Chapel , NC 79.4%
90 Grandview Heights , OH 79.3%
91 Upper Arlington , OH 79.2%
92 Tenafly , NJ 79.2%
93 Swarthmore , PA 79.2%
94 Tamalpais-Homestead Valley , CA 79.1%
95 Briarcliff Manor , NY 79.1%
96 Manhattan Beach , CA 79.0%
97 Chesterbrook , PA 79.0%
98 Greenwood , CO 78.9%
99 Franklin Lakes , NJ 78.9%
100 New Albany , OH 78.9%

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2023 vintage, released December 2024), the underlying dataset behind this ranking spans 28,702 U.S. incorporated places and census-designated places nationally; this page shows the top 100 by bachelor's+. See our methodology for the full data-collection process.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates (2023), Table S1501. Verify directly with the source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES.

What to do with the most educated cities list

Use this ranking to narrow the field, then dig into the specific places you're considering.

  • Clemson University, SC leads this list at 100.0% -- see its full profile before drawing conclusions from the rank alone. Clemson University profile
  • Put two specific cities side by side across every tracked metric, not just this one ranking. Compare cities
  • See every ranked city in South Carolina together, not just how Clemson University compares nationally. South Carolina state page

This ranking reflects the single bachelor's+ metric only -- it is not a composite of everything that makes a city a good fit.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.

Related

Browse all city profiles → | Explore city rankings →
Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities Editorial

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.