‘Library of Congress Reading Room’
courtesy of ‘tzk333’

Put down the books for one second to pat yourselves on the back, DC. According to CNN Money, you’re the smartest city in America. Where does the city’s summa cum laude come from?

In the District and surrounding suburbs, 47.3% of people 25 years or older have bachelor’s, master’s, professional school or doctorate degrees, according to new Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The national average barely tips 25%.

The figures don’t surprise John Schmidt, senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in D.C. The city is built on jobs that require degrees.

“There’s a very high share of federal government employees here,” he said, “and people dealing with the federal government, including defense contractors, lobbyists, businesses that want to influence the regulatory process; there’s lots of lawyers.”

DC holds a slight edge in the distinction over a few Silicon Valley cities – San Francisco and San Jose – and the rest of the top ten includes many other tech and research regions around the country (the North Carolina research triangle and Boston round out the five smartest).

Now get back to studying and your post-graduate degrees, colleagues. It’s apparently what sets us apart.

Dave Levy

Dave Levy is a PR guy by day, a media researcher on the side and a self-proclaimed geek. He blogs often about how traditional media adapts – or tries to adapt – to the growing digital media world at State of the Fourth Estate. You can follow Dave on Twitter for various updates about everything from sports from his previous home in Boston to eccentric and obscure pop culture references. Read why Dave loves D.C.