Ocala ranks among least educated cities in America

A study by a personal finance company ranked Ocala as one of the least educated cities among the country’s largest 150 metropolitan statistical areas, citing the percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees and the quality of the public school system.

On Monday, WalletHub published its 2025 Most & Least Educated Cities in America list, ranking Ocala in 139th.

To compile its list, the company, which provides tools and resources to help consumers improve their financial health, compared the largest 150 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across the United States across eleven key metrics.

Those metrics include things like educational attainment, which measures the share of adults with high school diplomas and higher education degrees, and quality of education. Ocala ranked 134th in that category.

According to WalletHub, Ocala ranked 150 out of 150 for quality of education and attainment gap. That metric was comprised of several key factors, including the quality of the MSA’s public school system, the average quality of universities, the percentage of enrolled students in the top 822 universities per capita, and the racial education gap, which measures the “difference between the percentage of black bachelor’s degree holders and the percentage of their white counterparts.”

“Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it,” according to Chip Lupo, a WalletHub Analyst who compiled the report. “The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level. In addition to overall education, it’s also important to look at how well cities promote educational equality when it comes to race and gender.”

The list featured 14 MSAs from the state of Florida, with all other 13 ranking higher than Ocala, including Orlando/Kissimmee (#54), Deltona/Daytona Beach (#110), and Lakeland/Winter Haven (#137).

The eleven MSAs that Ocala outranked are all located in California (6), Texas (4), and North Carolina (1).

In 2021, WalletHub issued a similar ranking for Ocala. At the time, the city placed 142nd out of 150 overall, ranking 149th in quality of education.

To read the complete rankings, visit WalletHub’s 2025 Most & Least Educated Cities in America.