New Jersey Just Ranked No. 2 In America For Education

You may find this hard to believe after watching people feed seagulls Hot Cheetos all weekend at the shore, but New Jersey just got some serious bragging rights.

According to a new Census-based study, the Garden State has been named the second most educated state in America.

Yeah, New Jersey.

NJ Residents Have Top Tier Degrees

Researchers at Concordia University, St. Paul analyzed the latest American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to see which states have the highest percentage of adults with college degrees.

The results put New Jersey in second place nationwide for bachelor's degree attainment, trailing only Colorado.

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According to the study, 26.4% of New Jersey residents age 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree.

That's enough to place New Jersey ahead of states that usually dominate these kinds of rankings, including Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington.

New Jersey wasn't just strong when it came to four-year degrees.

A Lot Of NJ Residents Hold Masters Degrees Or Higher

The state also ranked eighth nationally for graduate and professional degree attainment, with 18.2% of adults holding an advanced degree.

In other words, Jersey isn't just producing college graduates. It's producing a lot of people who kept going.

• READ MORE: NJ College Grad Crisis: AI Is Replacing Entry-Level Jobs For 2026 Graduates

Jersey City earned a top-10 finish of its own.

The city ranked eighth in the nation for graduate and professional degrees, with 27.7% of adults holding an advanced credential.

Not every New Jersey city fared as well, though.

Newark ranked 47th nationally for bachelor's degree attainment, with 14% of adults holding a bachelor's degree from a university.

The city also ranked 44th for graduate and professional degrees, where 7.5% of residents hold advanced credentials.

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The top 10 states for bachelor's degree attainment were Colorado, New Jersey, Minnesota, Vermont, Massachusetts, Utah, New Hampshire, Washington, Montana, and Virginia.

So the next time someone makes a joke about New Jersey, you can remind them that we're apparently one of the smartest states in America.

Even if we're still feeding the seagulls.