4 NC cities named among best in US for access to quality schools, study says

North Carolina is home to some of the best cities to live in for access to top quality schools, according to a recent study from Melbourne Business School Online.

Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Durham were each named in the report ranking 80 major U.S. cities based on academic outcomes and quality of life factors.

The study, released in January, analyzed U.S. cities using 17 metrics in two key categories: quality of schools and quality of life. Contributing factors including math and reading scores, class size, safety and cost of living were also considered.

The report compiled data from the U.S. census, College Board, NCES, Zillow and other sources. Individual metrics were weighed based on their impact on education and quality of life, then scored on a scale from 0-100.

Here’s how each city stacked up against the rest:

Raleigh

• Rank: 17th out of 80
• Overall score: 53.88
• Where it shined: Share of schools with an “A” Niche grade, percentage of college-educated adults, and small class sizes.

Charlotte

• Rank: 26th out of 80
• Overall score: 51.32
• Where it shined: Percentage of college-educated adults, small class sizes and 8th grade math scores.

Greensboro

• Rank: 31st out of 80
• Overall score: 50.02
• Where it shined: Small class sizes, cost of living and housing affordability.

Durham

• Rank: 35th out of 80
• Overall score: 49.52
• Where it shined: Small class sizes, cost of living and share of parks per 10,000 people.

What are the best cities to live in for the top schools?

These cities were frontrunners in overall educational outcomes and quality of life, according to the MBSO report:

• Boston, Massachusetts (Score: 68.04)
• Seattle, Washington (Score: 61.52)
• Madison, Wisconsin (Score: 60.59)
• Jersey City, New Jersey (Score: 59.65)
• San Francisco, California (Score: 58.71)
• Buffalo, New York (Score: 57.23)
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Score: 57.13)
• Virginia Beach, Virginia (Score: 55.45)
• St. Louis, Missouri (Score: 55.43)
• San Diego, California (Score: 55.38)

See the full data set online.

Tanasia Kenney

Sun Herald

Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.