Continuing this week’s review of The Young and the Restless In A Knowledge Economy, and a listing of that report’s top cities for young talent:

Percent of Population Ages 25-34 in Metro Areas, 2000
1. Austin-San Marcos, TX MSA 18.2%
2. Atlanta, GA MSA 17.6%
3. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA 17.5%
4. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CMSA 16.8%
5. Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC—SC MSA 16.6%
Access to recreation year-round (warmer weather) is obviously a major factor. Colder cities need to think hard about ample indoor recreation amenities.

Share of 25-34 Year-Old Population with a 4-Year Degree or Higher, 2000
1. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA 45.2%
2. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA 43.2%
3. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 41.3%
4. Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA 40.9%
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI MSA 39.9%
So when brains are involved, the less that recreation is important?...

Percentage of All 25-34 Year-Old Women with a Four-Year Degree
1. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 34.9%
2. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT CMSA 27.7%
3. Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV CMSA 22.7%
4. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ 22.6%
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA 19.9%
*Notice how the more auto-oriented Raleigh area goes from #1 to completely dropping off the top five.  From the report: “Places that are attractive for these single, well-educated and footloose young women are likely to have an economic edge in building a talent base to be economically successful in the years ahead.“