An educated population makes a more attractive workforce and is better prepared to instruct the next generation of residents. High educational attainment represents a region's investment in human capital and preparation for long-term growth.

In 2014-18, 62% of residents age 25 and older in the region had attended at least some college or earned a bachelor's degree, slightly above the state and national rates (both at 60%). Just 10% of adults in the region lacked a high school diploma, lower than both the statewide (14%) and national (12%) rates, and 33% had their bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 36% statewide and 32% nationally. Regional educational achievement rose from 2000 through 2014-18, with the share of individuals with no high school diploma falling 6 percentage points and the share of individuals with a bachelor's degree or higher increasing 7 points.

Among the individual counties, Ontario had the highest rate of adults having attended some college or achieved at bachelor's degree, at 67%, similar to Monroe, at 66%. Wyoming and Orleans had the lowest rates, at 49% and 48%, respectively. In the City of Rochester, 53% of residents had attended at least some college, in line with many counties in the region but lagging behind the cities of Batavia (56%) and Geneva (57%), and far lower than the City of Canandaigua, at 72%. Rochester also had the highest share of individuals without a high school diploma, at 19%. However, the percentage of City residents without a high school diploma fell 8 points from 2000.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.