The Daily

Even if you don’t have a degree, a new study shows it pays to live near people who do. 

Jonathan Rothwell, a researcher at the Brookings Institution, analyzed online job listings in 100 major metropolitan areas and compared the education levels required for the posted jobs with both employment statistics and the local population’s education level. The study found that unemployment rates are about 2 percentage points higher in metropolitan areas with relatively large shortages of educated workers.

In other words, less educated workers tend to benefit from living in a city with a relatively high share of people with advanced degrees. In the 10 metro areas with the smallest education gap — places with a highly educated labor force — the average unemployment rate for people with a high school diploma or less was 11.4 percent, compared to 15.8 percent in the 10 metro areas with the largest education gaps.

“It’s a pretty important effect,” Roswell said. “Higher educated workers earn more money and spend a large portion of it on services that are provided disproportionately by less educated workers.”