Median gross rent and Share with a bachelor's degree or higher
Across 3,167 counties, Median gross rent and Share with a bachelor's degree or higher have a link of +0.69, on a scale from −1 (opposite) to +1 (in step). But compare places with the same population density, income and education, and a weak link of +0.23 remains. Most of the first figure came from both measures following how urban, rich and educated a place is, not from a link with each other.
Mostly gone after adjusting
Every place, plotted
One dot for each place reporting both measures. Hover over or tap a dot to see its name and values. The thin line is the straight line that best fits the dots. The bold line, shown for counties, is the link after adjusting for density, income and education. A dot far from the lines is a place that does not follow the pattern.
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What each measure is
Median gross rent
The rent paid by the middle renting household, plus any utilities the renter pays. That is why it is called 'gross' rent, not just the rent in the lease.
Census ACS 5-year · ACS table B25064_001
Share with a bachelor's degree or higher
The percentage of adults aged 25 and over who have at least a bachelor's degree. It counts degrees people already have, not people who are in college now.
Census ACS 5-year · ACS table B15003_022…B15003_025 (4 cells), divided by population aged 25 and over
Highest and lowest
Where each measure is highest and lowest among the places reporting both (2023), with the other measure beside it. This is shown for every size of place where both are published. Metro-area values are added up from their counties. A measure that cannot be added up across counties, such as a middle value (median), has no metro figure. Counts are shown per 1,000 residents, since raw totals would only list the largest places. Cities and towns and ZIP codes are shown where the Census survey or the CDC publishes them; most other sources stop at the county. They are shown for places of 5,000 residents or more, and only where the survey’s margin of error is small enough for the figure to be usable. The CDC publishes its health estimates for cities in a version adjusted for age, so places with older or younger people can be compared fairly, but not for ZIP codes.
Counties
By median gross rent
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| San Mateo County, CA | $2,893 | 53.1% |
| Santa Clara County, CA | $2,814 | 55.9% |
| Marin County, CA | $2,584 | 60.5% |
| San Francisco County, CA | $2,419 | 60.1% |
| Orange County, CA | $2,352 | 43.4% |
| Lowest | ||
| Cottle County, TX | $323 | 21.8% |
| Guánica Municipio, PR | $330 | 15.5% |
| Hardin County, IL | $342 | 12.2% |
| Worth County, MO | $353 | 17.6% |
| Las MarÃas Municipio, PR | $358 | 16.6% |
By share with a bachelor's degree or higher
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Falls Church city, VA | $2,205 | 79.7% |
| Arlington County, VA | $2,275 | 77.1% |
| Los Alamos County, NM | $1,308 | 68.2% |
| Alexandria city, VA | $2,031 | 65.8% |
| San Miguel County, CO | $1,173 | 65.2% |
| Lowest | ||
| McDowell County, WV | $686 | 5.75% |
| Elliott County, KY | $427 | 6.22% |
| Newton County, TX | $877 | 6.23% |
| Lee County, AR | $638 | 6.87% |
| Reeves County, TX | $988 | 6.87% |
States
By median gross rent
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| California | $1,956 | 36.5% |
| Hawaii | $1,938 | 35.5% |
| District of Columbia | $1,900 | 63.6% |
| Colorado | $1,693 | 44.7% |
| Massachusetts | $1,687 | 46.6% |
| Lowest | ||
| Puerto Rico | $562 | 29.1% |
| West Virginia | $850 | 23.3% |
| South Dakota | $912 | 31.1% |
| Arkansas | $914 | 25.1% |
| Mississippi | $923 | 24.2% |
By share with a bachelor's degree or higher
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| District of Columbia | $1,900 | 63.6% |
| Massachusetts | $1,687 | 46.6% |
| Colorado | $1,693 | 44.7% |
| New Jersey | $1,653 | 42.9% |
| Maryland | $1,662 | 42.7% |
| Lowest | ||
| West Virginia | $850 | 23.3% |
| Mississippi | $923 | 24.2% |
| Arkansas | $914 | 25.1% |
| Louisiana | $1,038 | 26.6% |
| Kentucky | $933 | 27% |
Metro areas — Median gross rent is not published for metro areas
By share with a bachelor's degree or higher
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Los Alamos, NM | — | 68.2% |
| Boulder, CO | — | 63.9% |
| Ithaca, NY | — | 59.3% |
| Nantucket, MA | — | 58.4% |
| Ann Arbor, MI | — | 58.1% |
| Lowest | ||
| Town of Pecos, TX | — | 6.87% |
| Summerville, GA | — | 10.7% |
| Arcadia, FL | — | 11% |
| Eufaula, AL-GA | — | 11.3% |
| Clewiston, FL | — | 11.3% |
Cities and towns
By median gross rent
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest — 61 are at $3,500 or more; five shown. | ||
| Key Biscayne village, FL | $3,500 or more | 74.4% |
| Nocatee CDP, FL | $3,500 or more | 68% |
| Hickam Housing CDP, HI | $3,500 or more | 50.6% |
| Inverness village, IL | $3,500 or more | 68.8% |
| Lincolnwood village, IL | $3,500 or more | 56.8% |
| Lowest | ||
| Guánica zona urbana, PR | $300 | 14.4% |
| Aguadilla zona urbana, PR | $336 | 22.2% |
| San Germán zona urbana, PR | $404 | 30% |
| Juana Díaz zona urbana, PR | $404 | 28.6% |
| Guayama zona urbana, PR | $404 | 32.5% |
By share with a bachelor's degree or higher
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| University at Buffalo CDP, NY | $1,438 | 97.3% |
| Stanford CDP, CA | $1,925 | 91.1% |
| Scarsdale village, NY | $3,500 or more | 90.7% |
| West University Place city, TX | $3,000 | 90.5% |
| University Park city, TX | $2,940 | 90.4% |
| Lowest | ||
| Corcoran city, CA | $1,012 | 3.16% |
| McFarland city, CA | $1,067 | 4.11% |
| Mecca CDP, CA | $900 | 4.26% |
| Good Hope CDP, CA | $1,451 | 4.28% |
| Arvin city, CA | $1,089 | 4.3% |
ZIP codes
By median gross rent
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest — 67 are at $3,500 or more; five shown. | ||
| ZIP 10005 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 84.3% |
| ZIP 10007 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 86.4% |
| ZIP 10018 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 75.2% |
| ZIP 10069 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 91% |
| ZIP 10280 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 89.6% |
| Lowest | ||
| ZIP 00913 (San Juan zona urbana, PR) | $268 | 25.6% |
| ZIP 00653 (Guánica Municipio, PR) | $326 | 15.3% |
| ZIP 00670 (Las Marías Municipio, PR) | $355 | 15.8% |
| ZIP 00638 (Ciales Municipio, PR) | $404 | 16.8% |
| ZIP 00606 (Maricao Municipio, PR) | $405 | 10.9% |
By share with a bachelor's degree or higher
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| ZIP 02210 (Boston city, MA) | $3,500 or more | 93.1% |
| ZIP 53726 (Madison city, WI) | $1,408 | 91.8% |
| ZIP 60654 (Chicago city, IL) | $2,571 | 91.8% |
| ZIP 10069 (New York city, NY) | $3,500 or more | 91% |
| ZIP 94305 (Stanford CDP, CA) | $1,937 | 90.9% |
| Lowest | ||
| ZIP 92254 (Riverside County, CA) | $961 | 3.03% |
| ZIP 73108 (Oklahoma City city, OK) | $799 | 3.61% |
| ZIP 93212 (Kings County, CA) | $1,030 | 3.64% |
| ZIP 46571 (LaGrange County, IN) | $918 | 3.68% |
| ZIP 93241 (Weedpatch CDP, CA) | $946 | 3.72% |
Counties furthest from the pattern
Compared with the straight line that best fits all 3,175 counties: the five with far more share with a bachelor's degree or higher than their median gross rent would suggest, and the five with far less.
| Median gross rent | Share with a bachelor's degree or higher | |
|---|---|---|
| Above the line | ||
| San Miguel County, CO | $1,173 | 65.2% |
| Los Alamos County, NM | $1,308 | 68.2% |
| Lexington city, VA | $985 | 57.3% |
| Albany County, WY | $936 | 55.5% |
| Mineral County, CO | $903 | 54.5% |
| Below the line | ||
| Aleutians West Census Area, AK | $1,886 | 17.5% |
| Manassas Park city, VA | $2,175 | 25.5% |
| Bethel Census Area, AK | $1,454 | 10.4% |
| San Benito County, CA | $1,922 | 22.4% |
| Solano County, CA | $2,088 | 28.4% |
Two series, one county
Both measures over time for a county you pick. The two charts are stacked, so they share only the years along the bottom. You can pick from the thirty largest counties reporting both. This panel covers 2010–2024, and a measure published only once shows as a single dot.
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Every version of the link
Each row measures the same link, from −1 to +1, in a different way. If the rows mostly agree, the link does not depend on one choice of method.
| Before adjusting for anything | +0.692 | 3,167 counties reporting both |
| After adjusting for density, income and education | +0.229 | the part of the link that is not just how urban, rich and educated a place is |
| Also adjusting for population size | +0.231 | size taken out as well as density |
| Also comparing only within each state | +0.236 | each county is compared only with others in its own state, so this is no longer a comparison between states |
| Giving bigger counties more weight | -0.134 | the adjusted link for the average resident rather than the average county. With this weighting, the data counts for about 292 equally weighted counties |
| Middle value inside single states | +0.738 | the link worked out inside each of 41 states with at least 20 counties reporting |
| Using ranks, after adjusting | +0.162 | uses each county’s rank, not its value, so a few extreme counties cannot create the link |
How much to believe it
Could it be chance?
The p-value is the chance of seeing a link this strong if there were really none. A value of 0.05 or less means the link is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 3.1e-16 means 0.00000000000000031, and the bigger the number after “e-”, the smaller the value. Treating every county as a separate case gives p = 4.3e-39. But counties in the same state tend to resemble each other, so the better figure allows for that: p = 0.002. The site tested 20,910 pairs, and testing so many turns up some flukes. The q-value allows for that too. For this pair it is 2.0e-38.
Do nearby places look alike?
Moran’s I measures how much nearby places look alike: 0 means no map pattern, and higher means neighbours are more similar. For the part of each county that the adjustment leaves unexplained, it is +0.33 (p = 0.001). That unexplained part still clusters on the map. So some regional factor shared by both measures is not accounted for.
Did they change together?
The figures above compare counties at one moment. This asks a different question: where median gross rent rose most, did share with a bachelor's degree or highermove too? Each county’s change is compared with the average change in its own state. That takes out ups and downs that hit a whole region at once. Each change is the gap between two estimates that both contain some error. That error pulls these links towards zero, so a weak one is weak partly for that reason. The q column shows whether a link could be a fluke, allowing for the many pairs tested: 0.05 or less means it is unlikely to be chance.
| Period | Counties | Change together | Within states | q |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2019 the main test: each Census survey figure averages five years, and these two do not overlap; before the pandemic | 3,169 | +0.10 | +0.11 | — |
| 2019–2023 a repeat check: its two five-year survey figures both include 2019, and it covers the COVID years | 3,154 | +0.14 | +0.11 | — |
Both come from the American Community Survey, which asks a sample of households. Random error in a county's sample pushes both changes at once. So part of any agreement here is that shared error. It is shown, but not counted as a finding. How change is measured.
Related pairs
- Median household income and Share with a bachelor's degree or higher — +0.64
- Median gross rent and Median household income — +0.64
- Median gross rent and Median home value — +0.59
- Share with a bachelor's degree or higher and Returns reporting capital gains — +0.55
- Share with a bachelor's degree or higher and Republican swing, 2000 to 2024 — -0.54
- Per capita income and Share with a bachelor's degree or higher — +0.54
- Share with a bachelor's degree or higher and Economy score — +0.52
- Median gross rent and Share foreign-born — +0.49
Association only. Nothing here shows that either measure changes the other. This describes counties, not the people in them. Two measures going together across places does not mean the same people have both. How the US county data works · Explore Median gross rent and Share with a bachelor's degree or higher