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Choosing to go to college or not in today’s world is a serious dilemma. Sure, a college degree offers more job options and generally a bigger paycheck, but some people don’t have money, time, or grades to pursue that lofty goal. What are your options, though, if you don’t have a degree?
As it turns out, that really depends on the area you live in. Here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog, we’re aware that college just isn’t a choice for some, but that doesn’t always have to be a major setback. We found the top 10 cities that are good for those who completed high school, but don’t have a higher-level degree.
Those cities were:
1. North Las Vegas, NV
2. Henderson, NV
3. Philadelphia, PA
4. Chesapeake, VA
5. Baltimore, MD
6. Glendale, AZ
7. Jacksonville, FL (Tie)
7. Las Vegas, NV (Tie)
9. Newark, NJ
10. Fort Wayne, IN
Using the percentage of high school grads employed, the percentage who had health insurance, and their median annual income from the U.S. Census Five Year American Community Survey (2009-2013), we analyzed the biggest cities in the country to see how friendly they were to those without a degree.
To find out more about how we created this ranking, simply check the section at the very bottom of the article.
You can also check the table at the bottom to see if your hometown ranked. For now, let’s take a more detailed look at each of our top 10 to find out why they ranked where they did.
1. North Las Vegas
This big winner might have come as something of a surprise. In fact, this was one of three Nevada cities on our list, so this is one state that knows how to keep people with only a high school diploma from being left out in the cold.
North Las Vegas scored quite a ways above the others in our top 10, due in part to the high median earnings folks without a college degree can get, a surprising $30,540 per year. That was the 10th highest earnings on our list, and was also helped by the fact that the eighth most people had health care here, even if they didn’t have a bachelor’s degree.
The biggest score here, however, was the third highest percent of people without a college degree that were still employed. In short, even without a college education, you can still make a living here.
2. Henderson, NV
Another of our Nevada winners, Henderson also had a lot to offer for those who didn’t have a degree. This is a very safe city, as a previous ranking we did clearly shows, and making enough money to get by here is a safe bet, too. Locals who had a high school degree only still managed to make a median earning of $32,291 per year.
On top of that, this place had the 18th highest percent of non-college grads with health insurance, so the lack of a degree won’t keep folks from staying healthy. Lastly, the ninth highest percent of people without a college education were employed here.
3. Philadelphia, PA
The largest city in Pennsylvania easily makes this list with some pretty surprising stats. For starters, this big city had the sixth highest percent of non-college grads who were currently employed. That might be surprising, especially considering this was easily the largest city in our top 10.
It is true that the median earnings for people without a degree were a little lower here, at only $27,330, but that’s still better than most other cities in America. Besides, the very highest percent of the high-school-diploma-carrying populace had health care. Definitely not a stat to sneeze at.
4. Chesapeake, VA
If you want a place that looks genuinely pretty while offering opportunities to high school grads, then look no further, Chesapeake, set in one of the more scenic parts of Virginia, offered the sixth highest paycheck to those without a college degree, at an impressive $32,025 on average.
We will say, the percent of folks here who had health insurance was a little lower than in other places, but it was still better than four-fifths of the nation. Also, the percent of folks that were employed ranked in the top quarter of our list.
5. Baltimore, MD
This is another one of those cities that didn’t score off the charts in median earnings for non-college grads. However, at $28,317, that amount of cash is still better than the vast majority of other cities in the nation. The percent of high-school grads who were employed was also better than most of the country, on top of that.
The real winner for this Maryland city, however, was the high percent of people who had health insurance. The fifth highest percent of non-college grads had health care here, showing just another way that Baltimore doesn’t let the lack of a degree hold its locals back.
6. Glendale, AZ
Sun, sand, and plenty of opportunities to those without a bachelor’s degree…what more can you ask for? This city just had solid scores all the way across the board, topped off with the decently high median earnings of $28,827, the 19th highest on our list. The percent of locals with health insurance and without a college education was similarly scored at the 16th highest.
To top it all off, this Arizona locale had the 17th highest percent of high school grads that were employed, meaning that making enough to get by, making sure your health comes first, and starting your career are all much less of a problem in Glendale.
7. Jacksonville, FL
The first city in our two-way tie for seventh was the warm and wonderful Jacksonville. The only Florida city to make our list, this place had plenty to offer those who didn’t choose the college path in their life. For one thing, Jacksonville had the 11th highest percent of people with health care and the 13th highest percent of people with employment, even if they didn’t have a degree.
The only real downside here was probably the slightly lower median earnings, which were only $27,275. Still, given that two-thirds of the U.S.’s non-college grads were paid less than that, it’s really not that small a paycheck.
7. Las Vegas, NV
At last we come to the final Nevada city on our list, the one and only Las Vegas. Now, it might be that you don’t need a college degree to work in a casino, or to be a dancer, or to wait tables, so it could be that the availability of jobs is just what a non-college grad needs. Now, we could speculate forever about that, but the fact is that the eighth highest percent of high school graduates were employed here.
In addition to that stellar stat, this place had a very high percent of folks who had health insurance even though they didn’t complete college, along with a decently high median earning. In fact, high school grads here were able to make $27,770 per year on average. Maybe it’s all those casino tips.
9. Newark, NJ
This New Jersey city has a lot going for it, and now it can add non-college grad friendliness to its list of perks. The sixth highest percent of people without a degree had health insurance, a pretty impressive stat. However, the most impressive stat was the second highest percent of folks who were employed, despite their lack of a bachelor’s degree.
We should acknowledge that there was one area this place really didn’t excel, and that was in median income. Local high school grads only made about $26,180 per year on average.
10. Fort Wayne, IN
Last but certainly not least on our list is the only Indiana representative in our top 10, Fort Wayne. This was another of those cities that had solid scores in general across the board, with the weakest one being the median earnings, which was better than two-thirds of the nation at $27,358 per year on average. It only gets better from there.
Most importantly, this city holds a low unemployment rate for high school grads with no college experience and a high percentage of people who had health insurance even if they didn’t have a degree. In general, this place was all about options, no matter your education level.
You Don’t Need A Degree To Succeed
Sure, it definitely helps to be a college grad when it comes to the job world and career options, but in these 10 cities, your education level doesn’t have to limit your growth potential. College isn’t for everyone, and it’s nice to know that some cities recognize that more than others.
If you’re in search of a new home that’s friendly to your education level, don’t hesitate to drop us a line. Besides making informative lists like this one, we also sell houses, and we’re sure we can point you in the right direction in your search
How We Created This Ranking
In order to make this Big Deal List, we turned to the U.S. Census Five Year American Community Survey (2009-2013) to get our data. We were only looking at the big hitters here, so we analyzed the top 100 cities in population size in the following three criteria:
- Percent of High School Grads Without a Degree That Were Employed
- Percent of High School Grads Without a Degree That Had Health Insurance
- Median Yearly Earnings for High School Grads Without a Degree
We left out any cities that we were unable to get complete data for. From there, we ranked each city in each category from 1 to 100, with scores closer to one being better for non-college grads. Then, we averaged each place’s rankings into one overall Big Deal Score. The place with the smallest number for that score became our best place for non-college grads, and that turned out to be North Las Vegas.
