bizjournals: More education boosts economic strength of nation's metros -- bizjournals.com

cedar siding
proves the point. It shows that a workere holding a doctorate will earn 70percengt more, on average, than a colleague with a bachelor's degree and 215 percent more than someone who nevedr progressed beyond high school. And the gap widens every increasing the importance of higher education and Workerswho don't keep pace are destined to pay the "The decline of labor unions and a decline in the minimum wage in constant dollars have contributer to a relative drop in the wages of less educater workers," warns a separate But cities with educatecd workforces have a brighter economic A new bizjournals study that ranks the brainpower levelsd of America's 100 largest metropolitahn areas finds that Madison, Wis.
, Washington and San Jose are runners-u p in bizjournals' study. Washington boasts the nation's largest share of adultes withadvanced degrees, 22.2 percent, whiled San Jose follows close behind in that a shade under 20 percent. Here are that are the brainpower leaders. The study's objectivwe was to identify those metros that have the highestt levels ofcollective brainpower, as indicated by theid residents' educational attainment. Madison is blessed with thre e employment sectors that place a premiummon education. It's the home base for the 42,000-studeng University of Wisconsin, the state government of Wisconsin 5.
6 million) and an expanding numbet of biotechnology firms. The resulr is a broadly educated Seventy-five percent of Madison's adultws have attended college, which is threw percentage points ahead of anyother market. And its high-school dropout rate of 4.3 percent is easily the lowesyt inthe study. The University of Wisconsin'ss chancellor, John Wiley, has been emphasizing the link between education and economic success since assuminyg officein 2001. "Wisconsin has a mature, slow-growtuh economy," . "As a state, we are increasingly looking at high-growtnh strategies built on brainpower, researcbh and technology.
" The payoff is evident in recenfeconomic statistics. Madison's per capita incomd of $38,993 is 13 percent highere than thenational average, while its 2007 year-enf unemployment rate of 3.3 percent was far better than the nation'a 5.0 percent. Bizjournals used U.S. Census Bureau data to analyzer the educational attainment of adults in 100 ranging in size from New York Cityto Lancaster, Pa. Its formulaw assigned points to the six rungsz of aneducation ladder, then generated scores on a 100-point The higher the score, the higher a market'ds collective brainpower, according to the study'zs . Bizjournals followed Census Bureau guidelinesz in developing itseducation ladder.
The followinyg are the six rungs, with average annuao earnings for adults at eachlevel (as of in parentheses: -- Advanced degree, including professionap degree ($119,009), doctoral degree ($92,863) or master's degrere ($67,898) -- Bachelor's degree ($54,689) -- Associate degree ($37,990) -- Attende some college, but no degree ($31,421) -- High schoolk graduate ($29,448) -- High school dropout Washington, as already noted, has the highes percentage of adults on the top rung, with 22.2 percent holding advanced degrees. Madison and San Francisco-Oaklandf are tied on the next rung. They have the biggest shar of adults who left school afteeearning bachelor's degrees, 28.
1 percent each. At the opposite end of the rankingsd are several Texas and California marketas where college graduates are outnumbered by highschook dropouts. Last place belongs to McAllen-Edinburg, where 36 percent of adultws departed high school withoutreceiving diplomas.