Special Report

This is the Least Educated City in Connecticut

Samuel Stebbins

Published: November 2, 2021 7:00 am

Last Updated: November 3, 2021 6:34 am

College enrollment has declined steadily in the United States in recent years. With rising tuition costs and surging student debt, enrollment rates have fallen at 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 32.1% 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 city where the share of adults with a bachelor’s degree is well below the national average.

Using education data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 24/7 Wall St. identified the least educated city in every state.

In Connecticut, no city or town with a population of 25,000 or more has a lower bachelor’s degree attainment rate than Waterbury. Only 15.7% of the adult population in Waterbury have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 39.3% of adults across the state as a whole.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among American adults with a four-year college education was 5.5% 2020. Among those with no more than a high school diploma, the jobless rate was considerably higher, at 9.0%. In Waterbury, an average of 8.4% of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 were unemployed over the last five years, higher than the 5.0% jobless rate across the state over that time.

Americans with a bachelor’s degree also tend to have higher incomes. 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. In cities with low educational attainment, incomes also tend to be lower than average — and Waterbury is no exception. The typical household in the area earns $42,401 a year, below the median household income of $78,444 across Connecticut as a whole.

All cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and census-designated places with over 25,000 people were considered for this story. All data used are five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. This is the least educated city in every state.