By the Gazette-Times | Posted: Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:00 am
Corvallis has made another "top five" list as one of the smartest places around.
The city is ranked fifth on a list of "America's Smartest Cities" compiled by Forbes online magazine.
Forbes used data compiled by Sperling's Best Places, a Portland company that compared cities in the United States based on the percentage of people ages 25 and older with at least a bachelor's degree.
The study found 93.32 percent of Corvallis residents had graduated from high school and 47.65 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher. It also found that 5.62 percent of Corvallis residents have a Ph.D. and 1.95 percent have a professional degree, required for doctors, attorneys and architects.
A common theme among cities chosen is that they are largely college towns with universities driving the education level of residents higher than most.
Boulder, Colo., topped the list, with 92.89 percent graduating high school, 52.92 percent holding a bachelor's degree or higher, 3.97 percent with a Ph.D. and 3.14 percent with a professional degree. The cities that followed were Bethesda, Md., Ithaca, N.Y., and Ann Arbor, Mich.
Other cities ranked behind Corvallis were Cambridge, Mass., Iowa City, Iowa, San Jose, Calif., and Seattle.