A WalletHub comparison of educational achievement and quality in the top U.S. cities placed Chattanooga No. 121 on the list of 150 metropolitan cities and near the bottom of metro areas in the Mid-South. The rating for Mid-South metro areas, and their relative ranking among the top 150 cities, are:
1. Atlanta, 23
2. Huntsville, 25
3. Asheville, North Carolina, 30
4. Savannah, Georgia, 58
5. Nashville, 61
5. Birmingham, 90
6. Knoxville, 102
7. Memphis, 112
8. Chattanooga, 121
9. Mobile, Alabama, 122
Source: Wallethub study of data ranging from the share of adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher to quality of the public school system to gender education gap.
The top-rated metropolitan cities in the country, in order, are Ann Arbor, Michigan, Washington D.C., San Jose, California, Durham, North Carolina and San Francisco. The lowest rated metro areas are Visalia, California, Brownsville, Texas, McAllen, Texas, Bakersfield, California and Modesta, California.