The Business Journal recently released a study measuring total brainpower in 102 metro markets. It’s not 100% clear from the study, or this chart, whether they’re referring to DC proper or to the national capital region, but either way the results are impressive. Washington wins the brainpower battle by a fairly significant margin. This bodes well for the District in terms of entrepreneurship and future business growth. Right now, our economy remains too dependent on federal government spending and there is a serious need to diversify our economy. People with bachelor’s degrees and above are far more likely to start new business enterprises than the rest of the population. This will help as the District reorients itself away from a government-centric economy.
| Market | Brainpower score | Brainpower rank |
Adults with high school diplomas | Adults with bachelor’s degrees | Adults with graduate degrees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 6.9382 | 1 | 90.0% | 47.6% | 22.8% |
| Madison, Wis. | 5.5477 | 2 | 94.5% | 42.9% | 17.6% |
| Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn. | 5.3254 | 3 | 89.3% | 44.9% | 19.4% |
| Boston | 5.1787 | 4 | 90.6% | 43.0% | 19.0% |
| San Jose | 5.0589 | 5 | 86.4% | 45.7% | 20.1% |
| Durham, N.C. | 4.9767 | 6 | 87.5% | 43.1% | 20.4% |
| San Francisco-Oakland | 4.1938 | 7 | 87.5% | 44.2% | 17.3% |
| Raleigh | 3.1465 | 8 | 89.8% | 41.3% | 13.8% |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 3.1034 | 9 | 93.0% | 38.7% | 12.8% |
| Colorado Springs | 2.8696 | 10 | 93.9% | 34.8% | 13.4% |
| Albany, N.Y. | 2.8080 | 11 | 91.7% | 33.8% | 15.2% |
| Seattle | 2.7665 | 12 | 91.4% | 37.3% | 13.5% |
| Denver | 2.6797 | 13 | 89.5% | 38.9% | 13.7% |
| Portland, Maine | 2.6413 | 14 | 92.8% | 35.8% | 12.9% |
| Hartford | 2.6374 | 15 | 89.4% | 35.4% | 15.4% |
| Austin | 2.5165 | 16 | 87.9% | 40.2% | 13.6% |
| Baltimore | 2.4861 | 17 | 88.6% | 35.7% | 15.3% |
| Provo, Utah | 2.0433 | 18 | 93.4% | 35.7% | 10.6% |
| New Haven, Conn. | 1.8431 | 19 | 88.2% | 32.5% | 15.1% |
| Portland, Ore. | 1.7728 | 20 | 90.5% | 34.1% | 12.5% |
| Rochester, N.Y. | 1.7551 | 21 | 89.4% | 32.3% | 14.1% |
| New York City | 1.6928 | 22 | 84.8% | 36.5% | 14.9% |
| Worcester, Mass. | 1.5618 | 23 | 89.2% | 33.7% | 12.9% |
| Philadelphia | 1.4721 | 24 | 88.7% | 33.4% | 13.1% |
| Kansas City | 1.3862 | 25 | 90.5% | 33.0% | 11.8% |
| Des Moines, Iowa | 1.3646 | 26 | 92.3% | 34.2% | 9.9% |
| Columbus | 1.3185 | 27 | 90.1% | 33.3% | 11.7% |
| Chicago | 1.1885 | 28 | 86.6% | 34.4% | 13.1% |
| Omaha | 1.1883 | 29 | 91.1% | 32.9% | 10.8% |
| Atlanta | 1.1157 | 30 | 87.5% | 34.7% | 12.1% |
| Poughkeepsie, N.Y. | 1.0201 | 31 | 88.4% | 30.7% | 13.2% |
| Pittsburgh | 1.0064 | 32 | 91.8% | 29.8% | 11.3% |
| Buffalo | 0.9565 | 33 | 89.8% | 29.2% | 12.8% |
| San Diego | 0.8393 | 34 | 85.3% | 34.1% | 13.0% |
| St. Louis | 0.7993 | 35 | 89.7% | 30.5% | 11.7% |
| Milwaukee | 0.7962 | 36 | 89.6% | 32.0% | 11.0% |
| Honolulu | 0.7880 | 37 | 90.3% | 31.6% | 10.7% |
| Syracuse, N.Y. | 0.7637 | 38 | 89.1% | 29.1% | 12.7% |
| Albuquerque | 0.5940 | 39 | 87.4% | 29.7% | 13.0% |
| Salt Lake City | 0.4020 | 40 | 88.9% | 31.0% | 10.7% |
| Indianapolis | 0.4012 | 41 | 88.6% | 31.2% | 10.8% |
| Ogden, Utah | 0.3979 | 42 | 92.5% | 29.3% | 9.1% |
| Richmond | 0.3843 | 43 | 86.6% | 32.0% | 11.7% |
| Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla. | 0.3647 | 44 | 89.7% | 28.3% | 11.4% |
| Springfield, Mass. | 0.3455 | 45 | 86.8% | 29.7% | 12.6% |
| Tucson | 0.2907 | 46 | 87.2% | 29.8% | 12.1% |
| Harrisburg, Pa. | 0.2727 | 47 | 89.7% | 28.5% | 11.0% |
| Charleston, S.C. | 0.2490 | 48 | 87.8% | 31.1% | 10.9% |
| Charlotte | 0.2193 | 49 | 87.2% | 33.1% | 10.2% |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk | 0.1960 | 50 | 89.7% | 28.6% | 10.7% |
| Cincinnati | 0.1786 | 51 | 88.8% | 29.5% | 10.8% |
| Akron, Ohio | 0.1474 | 52 | 90.5% | 28.4% | 10.1% |
| Columbia, S.C. | 0.0982 | 53 | 87.9% | 29.6% | 11.1% |
| Nashville | 0.0001 | 54 | 87.2% | 30.9% | 10.6% |
| Knoxville, Tenn. | -0.0259 | 55 | 87.9% | 29.0% | 11.0% |
| Boise, Idaho | -0.0481 | 56 | 90.0% | 29.2% | 9.4% |
| Cleveland | -0.0966 | 57 | 88.6% | 28.0% | 10.8% |
| Sacramento | -0.0968 | 58 | 87.7% | 30.0% | 10.4% |
| Jackson, Miss. | -0.2006 | 59 | 86.4% | 29.3% | 11.3% |
| Detroit | -0.2323 | 60 | 88.1% | 27.8% | 10.8% |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla. | -0.4691 | 61 | 90.0% | 25.9% | 9.7% |
| Grand Rapids, Mich. | -0.4898 | 62 | 89.3% | 27.5% | 9.3% |
| Little Rock, Ark. | -0.5125 | 63 | 88.6% | 27.7% | 9.6% |
| Oklahoma City | -0.6133 | 64 | 87.6% | 28.2% | 9.7% |
| Dayton, Ohio | -0.6290 | 65 | 88.8% | 25.1% | 10.4% |
| Wichita, Kans. | -0.6498 | 66 | 88.9% | 27.8% | 8.9% |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Calif. | -0.6742 | 67 | 82.5% | 31.3% | 11.4% |
| Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa. | -0.7336 | 68 | 87.7% | 26.5% | 10.1% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | -0.7771 | 69 | 83.7% | 31.4% | 10.2% |
| Providence | -0.7906 | 70 | 83.8% | 29.2% | 11.2% |
| Orlando | -0.8096 | 71 | 87.4% | 27.8% | 9.4% |
| Phoenix | -0.8133 | 72 | 86.2% | 28.4% | 9.9% |
| Jacksonville | -0.8925 | 73 | 88.7% | 27.3% | 8.5% |
| Louisville | -0.9106 | 74 | 87.3% | 25.9% | 10.1% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale | -1.0793 | 75 | 83.6% | 28.8% | 10.6% |
| Toledo, Ohio | -1.0806 | 76 | 89.3% | 23.9% | 9.2% |
| Birmingham | -1.1729 | 77 | 85.3% | 27.1% | 10.0% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg | -1.2841 | 78 | 87.5% | 26.0% | 8.7% |
| Tulsa | -1.4052 | 79 | 88.1% | 25.8% | 8.0% |
| Greenville, S.C. | -1.4133 | 80 | 84.0% | 27.5% | 9.9% |
| Baton Rouge, La. | -1.4523 | 81 | 86.1% | 26.8% | 8.7% |
| Memphis | -1.6038 | 82 | 85.9% | 25.7% | 8.9% |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. | -1.6337 | 83 | 86.8% | 24.1% | 9.0% |
| New Orleans | -1.6493 | 84 | 84.5% | 26.3% | 9.4% |
| Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | -1.7220 | 85 | 88.6% | 22.3% | 8.4% |
| Los Angeles | -1.7580 | 86 | 78.2% | 31.3% | 10.8% |
| Houston | -1.7765 | 87 | 81.0% | 29.0% | 10.0% |
| Greensboro, N.C. | -1.9096 | 88 | 84.8% | 26.4% | 8.3% |
| Augusta, Ga. | -2.0248 | 89 | 85.3% | 23.8% | 8.9% |
| San Antonio | -2.0614 | 90 | 82.9% | 26.0% | 9.3% |
| Lancaster, Pa. | -2.6203 | 91 | 84.0% | 23.5% | 8.0% |
| Chattanooga, Tenn. | -2.6407 | 92 | 84.2% | 23.1% | 8.0% |
| Youngstown, Ohio | -2.8251 | 93 | 88.5% | 19.3% | 6.4% |
| Las Vegas | -3.1208 | 94 | 83.9% | 22.0% | 7.2% |
| Lakeland, Fla. | -4.6160 | 95 | 82.3% | 18.1% | 5.4% |
| Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. | -4.7258 | 96 | 78.6% | 19.4% | 6.9% |
| El Paso, Texas | -5.5208 | 97 | 74.2% | 20.6% | 6.7% |
| Stockton, Calif. | -5.5799 | 98 | 77.1% | 18.3% | 5.7% |
| Modesto, Calif. | -6.1343 | 99 | 76.6% | 16.2% | 5.3% |
| Fresno, Calif. | -6.1951 | 100 | 72.9% | 19.2% | 6.1% |
| Bakersfield, Calif. | -7.3234 | 101 | 72.1% | 15.0% | 5.1% |
| McAllen-Edinburg, Texas | -9.2939 | 102 | 62.3% | 16.1% | 4.8% |
Source: Washington Business Journal
Link to WBJ story: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/news-wire/2014/02/27/tbj-brainpower-rankings-2014.html?ana=e_wash_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2014-02-27