Worcester in top third of most-educated cities

Grant Welker College of the Holy Cross in Worcester is the 32st-best liberal arts college in the country, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

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Worcester is the 43rd most educated city in the country, based on how many adults have college degrees and the quality of the city's school system, according to a study by the financial website WalletHub.

The rankings weigh heavily in favor of cities with the biggest college influence. Boston is sixth, while Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan, was far and away the top city. The homes of the flagship campuses of the universities of North Carolina, Wisconsin and Texas landed in the top 10.

Worcester is home to nine colleges and universities, with more in surrounding towns, and that helped the city. Worcester ranked ahead of Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Phoenix. In many cases, cities included surrounding communities - in Boston's case, Cambridge and others are included.

Among New England cities, Bridgeport-Stamford (with the two Connecticut cities combined into one) ranked 12th, Hartford was 22nd, Portland was 23rd, New Haven was 29th, Manchester, N.H., was 50th, Springfield was 58th and Providence was 84th.

WalletHub considered most heavily each city's share of adults with college degrees, and factored in that city's public school system and average quality of its colleges.