Brain power

New ranking of America's smartest cities puts San Antonio at back of the class

But the area shines with some of the nation's narrowest race and gender education gaps.

Photo by Utamaru Kido/Getty Images

San Antonio sits at the back of the class when it comes to the smartest metro areas in the U.S., according to a new study.

In the study, published by personal finance website WalletHub, the San Antonio-New Braunfels area ranks 106th among the most-educated metros. It’s one of the lowest-ranked Texas metros, with Austin-Round Rock (No. 9), Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 71), and Houston (No. 90) performing better on the 150-metro list. At the very bottom of the list are McAllen (No. 148) and Brownsville (No. 149).

San Antonio's ranking remains unchanged from WalletHub’s 2018 study.

To determine where the most-educated Americans live, WalletHub compared the 150 largest metros across 11 metrics. That data includes the share of adults 25 and older with at least a bachelor’s degree, the quality of public schools, and the gender gap in education.

Here’s how San Antonio fared across some of the data categories (lower ranking is better):

No. 6 — Black-versus-white education gap
No. 40 — Women-versus-men education gap
No. 52 — Quality of public schools
No. 83 — Students enrolled in top 951 universities per capita
No. 102 — Share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree
No. 102 — Share of adults with an associate’s degree or college experience
No. 103 — Share of adults with a graduate or professional degree
No. 111 — Average quality of universities
No. 132 — Share of residents with a high school diploma

The most educated metro in this year's ranking is Ann Arbor, Michigan. Visalia-Porterville, California, though, sits at the bottom of the list as the nation's least educated metro.

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Hottest headlines of 2024

The 10 hottest CultureMap headlines that had San Antonio talking in 2024

Teddy B's/Facebook

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Editor’s note: As 2024 comes to a close, we're looking back at the most-read stories in San Antonio this year. We've already covered the top dining, entertainment, real estate, city life, and travel headlines, as well as the best and worst movies of the year. Now it's time to set our sights on the hottest headlines of them all.

Here are the 10 most-read San Antonio stories of 2024:

1. Popular San Antonio burger joint flips its last patty after a decade. Long-running San Antonio burger joint Teddy B's closed its doors, explaining that declining foot traffic made it difficult for the owners to retain costs. But San Antonians didn't have to live without it for long. On November 20, the spot revealed a plot twist. The owners are now slinging patties at 9903 Fredericksburg Rd.

2. Texas tree group issues dire warning to San Antonio owners of oak trees. A nonprofit dedicated to trees issued a warning to Texas citizens who own oak trees: Put down the pruning shears to avoid oak wilt.

3. 3 San Antonio neighbors make new list of best small cities in America. New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, and Cibolo were among WalletHub's picks for best small cities based on overall livability.

4. 7 Mexican chains are taking over the U.S., starting in Texas. The U.S. is set to be on the receiving end of an explosion of Mexican chain restaurants — and Texas, God bless, is doing its part. An eye-opening (and clever) story on Mashed called "Mexican Chain Restaurants You're About To See Everywhere" finds 12 chains all on the verge of expansion.

Taco Cabana, a San Antonio-based company More tacos are teed up for the expansion across the U.S. Taco Cabana/Facebook

Teddy B's/Facebook

Teddy B's closed, but just for a brief time.

5. Stellar San Antonio high school ranks among America's best in 2024, says U.S. News. The 2024 rankings put BASIS San Antonio - Shavano Campus at No. 64 nationally. The school also ranked No. 13 nationally among the best charter schools and No. 76 among the best STEM high schools.

6. Beloved San Antonio tortillería unexpectedly folds after 40 years. Before multinational corporations decided that San Antonio was the next big thing, the city was filled with humble spots like La Amistad Tortillería. Now that era has ended. The eatery, a West Side staple for generations, announced it would be closing June 30 but decided to stay open longer after an outpouring of support.

7. San Antonio's best new restaurant soars to a new location. Thai Bird, the winner of Best New Restaurant in CultureMap’s annual Tastemaker Awards bracket, announced in June it would be expanding to a new location in Alamo Heights.

8. Gymnastics hero Mary Lou Retton recovering at home in Boerne following health scare. Olympic gymnastics great Mary Lou Retton barely survived a rare form of pneumonia. Retton opened up about her experience in an interview.

Mary Lou Retton gave an interview after a health scare. Getty Images

9. 4 unexpected shutters dampen San Antonio restaurant news. In late June, Fourth of July fireworks were about to pop and lake excursions were planned. Of course, San Antonio’s turbulent restaurant scene had to deliver a pre-holiday bummer. This week, four restaurants said their good-byes — from a beloved diner to Greed Decade relic.

10. The 10 best restaurants in San Antonio prove the city has arrived. This year's roll call of nominees for CultureMap's Tastemaker Award for Restaurant of the Year had no repeats from 2023. Leche de Tigre was the winner, but the other nominees offered strong competition.

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