Houston gets schooled in ‘smart’ survey
Bayou City ranks near the bottom of the heap in education-based listing of 100 smartest U.S. cities
— Houston Business Journal
Houston has landed near the bottom of a new ranking of the 100 smartest cities in the U.S., according to a recent study by Bizjournals.
Houston ranked 83rd on the list — which identified metros with the highest levels of collective brain power based on education levels — with an index of 41 on a 100-point scale. The study found that only 9.2 percent of Houstonians have a graduate or professional degree; 20 percent did not complete high school; and 25 percent stopped their education at a high school diploma.
Local economic and education experts don’t dispute Houston’s ranking, saying that the study brings to light some alarming statistics.
Steven Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University, says Houston’s numbers represent an “incipient crisis” among the city’s demographics.
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