5 Central Valley cities ranked among least educated in US. Who made the list?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Modesto ranked fifth among U.S. cities with lowest education in 2025 study.
- Central Valley cities held five of the ten lowest education scores nationwide.
- WalletHub used 11 metrics to measure schooling levels and education quality.
Half of the 10 least educated cities in the United States are in California’s Central Valley, according to WalletHub.
The personal finance company recently identified the least — and most — educated cities in the United States in 2025, ranking 150 of the most populated metropolitan areas based on education levels, the quality of public schools and other factors.
Several cities in the Central Valley — including Modesto, Stockton and Fresno — landed at the bottom of WalletHub’s list due to poor scores.
“Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo wrote in a June 30 article. “The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level.”
While overall education quality matters, Lupo said, cities should also ensure that people of all races and genders have equal access to learning opportunities.
Here’s where to find the least — and most — educated cities in the United States:
Where are the least educated cities in California?
According to the WalletHub study, the least educated cities in the United States are primarily located California and Texas.
Five of the nation’s 10 least educated cities were in the Central Valley, the personal finance website said, with Visalia landing at the very bottom of the list.
Visalia earned a score of just 9.12 out of 100 due to low education levels, poor school quality and big gaps in achievement, WalletHub said.
Bakersfield came in fourth place on WalletHub’s list of the nation’s least educated cities, while Modesto was fifth.
Fresno was No. 6 on the list.
Which US metro areas have lowest education scores?
These were the 10 least educated metro areas in the United States in 2025, according to WalletHub: 1. Visalia
2. Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas
3. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
4. Bakersfield
5. Modesto
6. Fresno
7. Stockton
8. Salinas
9. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, North Carolina
10. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
Why is Modesto one of the least educated cities?
Modesto earned a WalletHub score of just 17.78 out of 100 because of low education levels, poor school quality and big gaps in achievement.
Out of 150 of the most populated metro areas surveyed, Modesto ranked near the bottom at No. 146.
Where are the most educated metro areas in the US?
According to WalletHub, these were the 10 most educated metro areas in the United States in 2025:
1. Ann Arbor, Michigan
2. Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
3. Madison, Wisconsin
4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia
6. Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina
7. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley
8. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
10. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire
How did Wallet Hub come up with its findings?
To find the most and least educated cities in the United States, WalletHub looked at the 150 largest metropolitan areas and scored them based on how much schooling people have and the quality of that education, including achievement gaps.
WalletHub used 11 different measures, gave each a weight and then calculated an overall score out of 100 to rank the areas.
The rankings are based on data collected as of June 2, from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, GreatSchools.org and Yelp.
