The percentage of citizens with at least a college degree is an important measure of the intellectual capacity and productive power of a city's population. Cities with educated workforces are more attractive to companies seeking to relocate or expand their businesses. The proportion of North Carolina's adult population with at least a bachelor's degree has historically been slightly lower than the national average. For North Carolina's cities to maintain economic competitiveness, it is important to bolster and increase the education levels of their residents.
In North Carolina, the percentage of adults with a four year college degree has grown from 17.4 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in the 2010-2012 ACS estimates. This increase has largely mirrored growth nationwide. Within the state, the communities in the Research Triangle and Charlotte regions, which saw large population growth in the 1990s, are also the places with the largest percentages of college-educated adults. Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Matthews, Raleigh, and Wake Forest all placed in the top ten for every timeframe. Havelock, Kannapolis, Monroe, and Thomasville were in the bottom ten for each timeframe.
Educational attainment estimates were derived from the U.S. Census, consisting of the sources and tables listed below. The percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher was estimated by summing the categories of: bachelor's degree, master's degree, professional school degree, and doctorate degree. The summed amounts were then divided by the estimated amount of people 25 years or older per geography.