College enrollment has declined steadily in the United States in recent years. With rising tuition costs and surging student debt, enrollment has fallen by an average of nearly 2% a year since 2010. While four years of higher education may not be for everyone, Americans without a bachelor’s degree tend to be far more limited in their career opportunities, job security, and earning potential.
Nationwide, an estimated 33.1% of American adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Educational attainment rates vary considerably across the country, however, and in nearly every state, there is at least one metro area where the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree is well below the national average.
In the Dalton metro area, located in Georgia, only 15.0% of the adult population have a bachelor’s degree, the smallest share of any metro area in the state. Meanwhile, across Georgia, 32.5% of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The average weekly wage for a college-educated worker in the United States is about 67% higher than it is for those with no more than a high school diploma — and in places with lower educational attainment, incomes also tend to be lower than average. In the Dalton metro area, the typical household earns $51,967 per year, less than the median household income across Georgia of $61,980.
All data in this story are one-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.
| Least educated metro area | Adults with a bachelor’s degree (%) | Adults with a bachelor’s degree, statewide (%) | Median household income ($) | Median household income, statewide ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama: Gadsden | 17.2 | 26.3 | 41,447 | 51,734 |
| Alaska: Anchorage | 33.1 | 30.2 | 80,676 | 75,463 |
| Arizona: Lake Havasu City-Kingman | 13.5 | 30.2 | 50,179 | 62,055 |
| Arkansas: Pine Bluff | 16.4 | 23.3 | 41,541 | 48,952 |
| California: Visalia | 13.6 | 35.0 | 57,692 | 80,440 |
| Colorado: Pueblo | 23.4 | 42.7 | 51,276 | 77,127 |
| Connecticut: Norwich-New London | 33.3 | 39.8 | 75,633 | 78,833 |
| Delaware: Dover | 24.5 | 33.2 | 58,001 | 70,176 |
| Florida: Sebring-Avon Park | 16.7 | 30.7 | 48,698 | 59,227 |
| Georgia: Dalton | 15.0 | 32.5 | 51,967 | 61,980 |
| Hawaii: Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina | 27.7 | 33.6 | 80,754 | 83,102 |
| Idaho: Twin Falls | 20.0 | 28.7 | 56,667 | 60,999 |
| Illinois: Danville | 12.1 | 35.8 | 43,111 | 69,187 |
| Indiana: Michigan City-La Porte | 18.0 | 26.9 | 56,019 | 57,603 |
| Iowa: Sioux City | 22.6 | 29.3 | 60,132 | 61,691 |
| Kansas: Topeka | 29.1 | 34.0 | 59,567 | 62,087 |
| Kentucky: Elizabethtown-Fort Knox | 21.4 | 25.1 | 55,246 | 52,295 |
| Louisiana: Houma-Thibodaux | 16.3 | 25.0 | 49,874 | 51,073 |
| Maine: Lewiston-Auburn | 25.1 | 33.2 | 63,813 | 58,924 |
| Maryland: Cumberland | 19.1 | 40.9 | 49,729 | 86,738 |
| Massachusetts: Pittsfield | 33.9 | 45.0 | 58,895 | 85,843 |
| Michigan: Battle Creek | 20.2 | 30.0 | 49,055 | 59,584 |
| Minnesota: St. Cloud | 26.6 | 37.3 | 66,076 | 74,593 |
| Mississippi: Gulfport-Biloxi | 22.7 | 22.3 | 50,642 | 45,792 |
| Missouri: St. Joseph | 20.0 | 30.2 | 50,425 | 57,409 |
| Montana: Great Falls | 25.6 | 33.6 | 51,227 | 57,153 |
| Nebraska: Grand Island | 21.0 | 33.2 | 55,907 | 63,229 |
| Nevada: Carson City | 21.3 | 25.7 | 57,270 | 63,276 |
| New Hampshire: Manchester-Nashua | 37.8 | 37.6 | 83,626 | 77,933 |
| New Jersey: Vineland-Bridgeton | 16.1 | 41.2 | 54,587 | 85,751 |
| New Mexico: Farmington | 14.4 | 27.7 | 44,321 | 51,945 |
| New York: Watertown-Fort Drum | 22.4 | 37.8 | 53,917 | 72,108 |
| North Carolina: Rocky Mount | 17.4 | 32.3 | 46,466 | 57,341 |
| North Dakota: Bismarck | 33.4 | 30.4 | 70,979 | 64,577 |
| Ohio: Springfield | 16.2 | 29.3 | 50,128 | 58,642 |
| Oklahoma: Lawton | 20.5 | 26.2 | 51,332 | 54,449 |
| Oregon: Grants Pass | 16.8 | 34.5 | 47,573 | 67,058 |
| Pennsylvania: Johnstown | 20.6 | 32.3 | 49,076 | 63,463 |
| Rhode Island: Providence-Warwick | 33.2 | 34.8 | 70,967 | 71,169 |
| South Carolina: Sumter | 20.1 | 29.6 | 49,263 | 56,227 |
| South Dakota: Rapid City | 30.8 | 29.7 | 58,361 | 59,533 |
| Tennessee: Morristown | 19.3 | 28.7 | 47,326 | 56,071 |
| Texas: Odessa | 15.1 | 30.8 | 67,205 | 64,034 |
| Utah: St. George | 27.3 | 34.8 | 63,595 | 75,780 |
| Vermont: Burlington-South Burlington | 44.6 | 38.7 | 74,909 | 63,001 |
| Virginia: Staunton | 24.2 | 39.6 | 57,844 | 76,456 |
| Washington: Longview | 15.3 | 37.0 | 55,497 | 78,687 |
| West Virginia: Weirton-Steubenville | 17.5 | 21.1 | 49,510 | 48,850 |
| Wisconsin: Janesville-Beloit | 23.2 | 31.3 | 61,243 | 64,168 |
| Wyoming: Casper | 20.7 | 29.1 | 65,034 | 65,003 |
Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
