So maybe Seattle isn’t attracting CEOs and high-level professionals, but let not your heart be troubled. Seattle’s skyrocketing house prices will be carried along by college graduates!
College graduates are flocking to America’s big cities, chasing jobs and culture and driving up home prices.
Seattle, a new analysis shows, is on the top of the educated citizen heap, and last month passed $400,000 mark in median home prices, compared with a national average of $151,000.*
Though many of the largest cities have lost population in the past three decades, nearly all have added college graduates, an analysis by The Associated Press found.*
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Seattle was the best-educated city in 2004 with just over half the adults having bachelor’s degrees. Following closely were San Francisco; Raleigh, N.C.; Washington and Austin, Texas.
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"The largest predictor of economic well-being in cities is the percent of college graduates," said Ned Hill, professor of economic development at Cleveland State University. To do well, he said, cities must be attractive to educated people.*(The bold bit was not in the original AP article, and the italicized bit was left out of the P-I-contributed article.)
So according to Ned, Seattle is predicted to have the best economy in the nation. That’s a great theory and all, but if it’s true, I’m still wondering why wages have been going down in Seattle… Can anyone explain that to me? Anyone?
Seattle: Where college graduates come for lower wages and expensive housing!
(Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press via Seattle P-I, original , 04.10.2006)