Global Business Coalition for Education Releases 2022 Report Announcing Top U.S. Cities Preparing Youth with Skills for the Future

NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Global Business Coalition for Education released the "State of U.S. Cities and Youth Skills" survey, which ranks cities in the United States according to how well they equip young people for employment at quality jobs with skills for future of work.

Top U.S. Cities Preparing the Workforce of Tomorrow

• The best cities for youth to be employed or in school are Madison (WI) where only 5.2% of youth between the age of 16 and 24 are not at school or not at work, followed by Boston (MA) and Provo (UT).
  
• The best cities for early childhood education are Jackson (MS) where 59% of children were enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs followed by San Jose (CA), St. Louis (MO) and New Orleans (LO).
  
• The best cities for high school graduation are Madison (WI) where 97.9% of young people graduated from high school, followed by Provo (UT) and Honolulu (HI).
  
• Finally, the best cities for youth wages are Honolulu (HI) with a median salary of $16,370 per year for people between the age of 16 and 24 in 2019, followed by Las Vegas (NV) and San Diego (CA).

"Cities should provide the best opportunities to all youth by investing in them from their youngest age, through adolescence to adulthood to fully develop the skills they need for the future," said Justin van Fleet, Executive Director of the Global Business Coalition for Education

Following the report, a challenge was made to U.S. cities to develop ideas make cities more "skills friendly."  The Big Ideas, Bright Cities challenge aims at driving innovation and creativity in skills-building for young people by providing grants, technical support and the opportunity to join a nationwide community of practice for the organizations proposing the most promising initiatives submitted by the January 31^st deadline.

About the Report
The State of U.S. Cities and Youth Skills survey is based on 2015 to 2019 data from the American Community Survey and looks at the performances of US cities over 100,000 people in 10 areas including pre-school enrollment, high-school graduation, proportion of young people between 16 to 24 not at school or not at work, or youth wages.

Learn more about the Global Business Coalition for Education here.

SOURCE Global Business Coalition for Education