Released: September 19, 2012
Characteristics of the 60 Largest Metropolitan Areas by Hispanic Population
III. Educational Attainment
Less than High School Diploma
Among Hispanics ages 25 and older in the top 10 metro areas, Dallas has the highest share without a high school diploma—46%. Dallas is followed closely by the Los Angeles and Houston areas—both with 44%.- Miami has the lowest share (26%) of Hispanics without a high school diploma among the top 10 metropolitan areas.
- In each of these metro areas, the share of Hispanics without a high school diploma is larger than that of the area’s total population. Similarly, for U.S. Hispanics overall, the share of those ages 25 and older without a high school diploma is 38%, compared with 14% of the total U.S. population ages 25 and older.
- In the top 60 Hispanic metro areas more broadly, three have a majority of Hispanic adults lacking high school diplomas. Some 52% of Hispanic adults in Salinas-Sea Side-Monterey, Calif. (49th biggest Hispanic population) and 51% of Hispanic adults in Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, Calif. (32nd biggest) and Bakersfield, Calif. (25th biggest) lack a high school diploma.
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood-Pompano Beach, Fla., which has the 23rd largest Hispanic population, has the smallest share of Hispanic adults without a high school diploma (17%).
Bachelor’s Degree or More
Among the top 10 metropolitan areas by Hispanic population, the share of Hispanics ages 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree is highest in the Miami area—23%. Miami leads the next most highly educated metro area, San Francisco (16%), by seven percentage points.- The metro area in the top 10 with the lowest share of Hispanics who are college-educated is Riverside, where less than one-in-ten Hispanics (8%) ages 25 and older have a four-year college degree.
- In each of these metro areas, the share of Hispanics with a bachelor’s degree or more is lower than the share of the total population in that area that has a bachelor’s degree. Similarly, among all U.S. Hispanics ages 25 and older, the share with a bachelor’s degree or more is 13%, compared with 28% of the total U.S. population ages 25 and older.
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (the 23rd largest Hispanic population), leads the 60 metropolitan areas in the share of Hispanic adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher—more than one-in-four (28%) Hispanic adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree.
- Among the top 60 metropolitan areas, the share of Hispanic adults 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree is lowest in Visalia, Calif. (the 32nd largest Hispanic population), and Bakersfield, Calif. (25th largest). In both metro areas, just 5% of Hispanic adults have a bachelor’s degree.
