Four Massachusetts towns are among the country’s top 10 most educated areas, according to a recent report by personal finance management website NerdWallet.

Out of the top 100 U.S. cities listed, Wellesley came in third, Brookline fourth, Newton sixth and Lexington seventh in terms of residents’ educational attainment.

Each town was scored according to the levels of education its residents achieved. The percentage of residents with a high school diploma counted for 40 percent of the total score, the percentage with a bachelor’s degree counted for 30 percent and master’s degrees, professional degrees and doctorates counted for 10 percent each.

According to the 2013 U.S. census, roughly 90 percent of citizens over the age of 25 have high school degrees and 30 percent hold bachelor’s degrees. Numbers decrease as the level of education increases, with 12 percent of citizens holding master’s degrees and about three percent holding doctorate or professional degrees.

So, how do the state’s smartest cities stack up?

Wellesley

Wellesley (photographed above), the home of Wellesley College and Babson, is apparently the most-educated town in Massachusetts, with almost 83 percent of residents having at least a bachelor’s degree.

The Stats:

  • Residents with a high school diploma: 89.75 percent
  • Residents with a bachelor’s degree: 82.72 percent
  • Residents with a Master’s degree: 49.7 percent
  • Residents with a doctorate: 8.23 percent
  • Residents with a professional degree: 12.8 percent
  • Overall Nerd Wallet Score: 87.94

Brookline

The home of Newbury College and neighbor of Boston University and Boston College, Brookline is “the best place for the rich and single” — which presumably also means well-educated, because 14 percent of residents have a doctorate and 13 percent earned a professional degree.

The Stats:

  • Residents with a high school diploma: 82.75 percent
  • Residents with a bachelor’s degree: 78.54 percent
  • Residents with a Master’s degree: 49.4 percent
  • Residents with a doctorate: 13.5 percent
  • Residents with a professional degree: 12.24 percent
  • Overall Nerd Wallet Score: 84.81

Newton

Newton is the home of several colleges, including Lasell, Mount Ida and Andover Theological School. And if Brookline is the best town for singles, Newton’s the No. 1 spot for couples, as reported earlier this year. It’s also the sixth most-educated place on the list, with almost 50 percent of residents boasting master’s degrees.

The Stats:

  • Residents with a high school diploma: 87.05 percent
  • Residents with a bachelor’s degree: 75.46 percent
  • Residents with a Master’s degree: 49.2 percent
  • Residents with a doctorate: 9.96 percent
  • Residents with a professional degree: 11.74 percent
  • Overall Nerd Wallet Score: 83.92

Lexington

The town that witnessed the first shot of the Revolutionary War has a new claim-to-fame as the seventh most educated city in the U.S.

The Stats:

  • Residents with a high school diploma: 83.41 percent
  • Residents with a bachelor’s degree: 75.66 percent
  • Residents with a Master’s degree: 48.52 percent
  • Residents with a doctorate: 13.42 percent
  • Residents with a professional degree: 7.61 percent
  • Overall Nerd Wallet Score: 81.14
Three other towns in Massachusetts made Nerd Wallet’s list: Cambridge (No. 12), Arlington (No. 51) and Northampton (No. 72). Check out Nerd Wallet’s data for their rankings, and to see how the other states stacked up.
Image via Flickr User redjar (CC BY-SA 2.0) 
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