That is a reminder that early education remains a challenge. The least educated state is Indiana, where barely a quarter have a degree. Of 12 states in the broad Midwest only Illinois, Kansas and Minnesota surpass that.

On average, 32% of Americans (25 or older) have at least a bachelor’s degree. This helps explain why both cities have flourished, especially in medicine and pharmaceuticals, which need educated workers.

In Minneapolis over 49% of adults have a degree in Madison 58%. No big city has more, he says, though that rests on defining big. Rahm Emanuel boasts that, when he stood down as Chicago’s mayor last year, 39% of its adults had four-year degrees, far above the national average. Not all graduates hang around their alma mater, but cities that keep them outdo rivals. Second, universities pool employable talent. “We have a Beta City concept, we take intellectual property from the university and apply it,” he says. It was a boon to deploy researchers’ ideas, for example to fit wifi-enabled sensors in sewers to monitor water flow and save money. Having 8,500 students beside a city of 100,000, including active ones who volunteer in local schools, is helpful. But he concedes that nearby Notre Dame university (where his father taught) mattered. Another example is South Bend, Indiana, where Pete Buttigieg often presents revival as mostly about political leadership. A resident of Columbus, Ohio, laments how the absence of 30,000 students and staff sapped demand for local businesses. As a natural experiment, ask how they suffered when covid-19 sent people home. Mayors want to revive town centres, so luring youthful consumers is a big plus. One is to bring in young people, often a city-sized population. They in turn spread prosperity, in three ways. Almost a quarter of National Institutes of Health federal grants for developing drugs and medical technologies go to Midwestern institutions. Mr Austin tots up 21% of America’s patent filings, by companies and universities in the region. It does not do so well in STEM subjects, claiming just six of 25 top-ranked STEM colleges. The Midwest has 16 of the country’s 50 top-ranked medical schools, five of the 25 best computer-science ones, and 17 of 63 leading research universities. (In fact, by defining the Midwest expansively, he counts 20.) The “big ten” state universities, which oddly number 14, have 600,000 students, 50,000 faculty and draw annual research funds of $10.6bn, more than the Ivy League and Californian universities combined. He says 15 of the world’s 200 top-ranked research universities are there. John Austin, at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, has written a study arguing that the Midwest’s institutional brainpower is exceptional. Your browser does not support the element.Įnjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.

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