New data from the U.S. Census Bureau finds Iowa among the top ten states in the nation for rates of graduation from high school. The new report puts Iowa at number eight, with 88-point-one percent of the state’s adults boasting a high-school diploma. Iowa’s eighth on the list with 88-point-one of people age 25 and over in possession of a high-school diploma, almost tied with number-one Nebraska which has an 89-percent graduation rate. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Ken Bryson says it’s more than just a point of pride, the high graduation rate is a selling point for the state. If you have a college degree, you’d like to move to a town where many people are graduates and have the kind of activities educated people enjoy. And in addition to parks, libraries and the arts, the amenities of an educated community may also include — jobs. When businesses look at moving to a particular area, they want an educated workforce to draw from. And Bryson says another group looking at quality-of-life factors like graduation rates may be people retiring from their jobs. At a recent retirement seminar, Bryson says he heard people noting that retirees choose where they’ll move and one factor is the quality of people they’ll be living next door to. The Census report ranks more than 165 metropolitan areas, and Des Moines is fifteenth on that list, Davenport at 23rd in the nation. Nebraska’s the number-one state, and Iowa ranks eighth for percentage of adults who have a high-school diploma.
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