Human Capital in Large Metropolitan Areas in the United States

The evidence indicates that human capital is an increasingly important determinant of where firms and households locate in the United States. Further, large metropolitan areas have been shown to have an advantage in attracting and producing highly skilled workers. The research in this study provides new information on the relationship between specific large metropolitan areas and educational attainment. The effects of metropolitan areas on educational attainment are separated out from the effects of demographic and family background, household location at age sixteen, and migration. It is shown that metropolitan areas either have no effect or very modest effects on attainment with a few exceptions. Data from the National Opinion Research Center’s “General Social Survey” (GSS) are used. The GSS is a large cross-sectional national sample of respondents who are at least eighteen years old and live in a non-institutional setting. It has been taken either annually or biannually since 1972. Data are used for samples from 1993 to 2008 so that the paper has a contemporary focus.