Eight Virginia cities named to ‘Most Educated Places in America’ list

Published August 11, 2015 by Veronica Garabelli

Financial fitness website NerdWallet has named eight Virginia communities to its 100 Most Educated Places in America list.     To compile the list, NerdWallet analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data on the educational levels of residents in more than 2,000 locations.

 The top ranking Virginia locality was McLean (No.5). According to NerdWallet’s analysis, nearly 81 percent of residents there have bachelor’s degrees. Other places in the commonwealth that made the list were: Arlington (No. 21); Short Pump, (No. 26); Oakton (No. 31); Reston (No. 48); South Riding (No. 64); Burke (No. 65) and Alexandria (No. 86).

McLean, Oakton, Reston and Burke are in Fairfax County. Short Pump is in Henrico County, and South Riding is in Loudoun County.

The most educated city in the country, according to NerdWallet, isn’t far from the commonwealth: Bethesda, Md. Bethesda has earned the No. 1 spot on NerdWallet’s list of most educated cities for the third year in a row.  Ninety-nine percent of residents who are 25 or older in Bethesda have at least a high school diploma and 81 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree.