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The west coast of Florida, when it comes to being home to millennials with a college degree, gets a D grade — at best.
Three areas are among the Top 10 in having the lowest percent of college graduates among people ages 25-34, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. The nonprofit public policy organization analyzed the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas for its report.
The Lakeland MSA, with 19.5% of millennials with a college degree, has the sixth-worst rate in the country, the report shows. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, at 19.9% is No. 7 nationwide. And the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton region, at 23.6%, is No. 9 in the country, right ahead of Spokane, Wash.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region didn't fare much better, with a 30.9% rate of millennials with a college degree. That's good for No. 69 nationally, according to the report.
The Top 10 markets for millennials with a college degree are mostly cosmopolitan cities with major universities. That side of the list includes Boston, Madison, Wis., San Jose, San Francisco and even Raleigh, N.C.
On states, Florida, like most of its regions, is subpar. The Sunshine State, with 29.3% of millennials with a college degree, ranked No. 36, one behind Montana and one spot ahead of South Dakota.
Top 10
1. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 58.5%
2. Madison, WI 58.3%
3. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 54.8%
4. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 54.8%
5 .Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,
DC-VA-MD-WV 53.6%
6. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 49.9%
7. New York-Newark-Jersey City,
NY-NJ-PA 47.5%
8. Raleigh, NC 47.2%
9. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington,
MN-WI 46.9%
10. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 46.0%
Bottom 10
1. Bakersfield, CA 14.2%
2. Stockton-Lodi, CA 16.5%
3. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 17.2%
4. Fresno, CA 18.4%
5. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 19.2%
6. Lakeland-Winter Haven 19.5%
7. Cape Coral-Fort Myers 19.9%
8. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 21.4%
9. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton 23.6%
10. Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 23.8%
Source: BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
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