https://carmelclaylibrary.org/main-library-project

Carmel-Clay Public Library (CCPL) was awarded the top tier rating in the Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR) system in each of its first 9 years, one of only 11 libraries in the country to consistently qualify among the best.

‘https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/haplr-library-rankings-mark-10th-anniversary/

CCPL has also earned a “star” rating from the Library Journal for being in the top 5% of its population category.

https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/ljx211213StarsByNumbers#1M5M

The Sheridan Public Library was rated at the 87th percentile by the Library Journal in 2020.

The Westfield-Washington Public Library was ranked at the 62nd percentile.

The Hamilton North Public Library was listed at the 48th percentile.

The Hamilton East Public Library was not rated in recent years.

The state of Indiana tracks total materials circulation per population which can be used as an indicator of library activity and quality. Of the 236 Indiana library districts, CCPL ranked 3rd with 19.4 items per person in 2021. Hamilton East was close behind, ranked 5th with 16.1 items per person. Westfield-Washington was 17th with 12.3 items per person.

Combining the 5 Hamilton County public libraries yields annual circulation of 16.1 items per person, which would rank 5th out of 232 libraries if it was a single library system. (Table 7). Hamilton County checks out more than twice as many items as the state average of 7.4 per person.

https://www.in.gov/library/services-for-libraries/plstats/2021-statistics/

In 2022, 34% of those aged 25+ in the US had completed bachelor’s degrees. Indiana lagged the national average at 30%. Nearby Kentucky (28%), Ohio (32%), Michigan (32%) and Illinois (38%) were near the national average. Nine east coast states (VT, NJ, CT, NH, NY, VA, DC, MD and MA) plus CO and WA exceeded 44%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_educational_attainment

The Census Bureau provided a nice interactive map to display county level data from the American Community Survey for 2015-19. They used 40% as the cut-off for the very highest educated counties.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/acs-percentage-bachelors-degree-2015-2019.html

Focusing on Indiana and its 4 adjacent states, there were just 15 counties with 40%+ bachelor’s degree completion rates among the 485 counties (3%). Hamilton County was in first place at 56%, tied with suburban Detroit’s Washtenaw County. Columbus suburb Delaware County was in third place at 54%. Suburban Chicago’s DuPage County and Indy’s Boone County tied for fourth place at 49%. Detroit’s Oakland County (47%) claimed sixth place, while Indiana’s Monroe County (46%) snagged seventh place. Franklin and Warren counties in Ohio, Leelanau County in Michigan, Champaign, McLean and Lake counties in Illinois, and Oldham and Fayette counties in Kentucky earned honorable mention.

Hamilton County ranked in 16th place overall (99.5 percentile) among all 3,100 counties nationally.

‘https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/09/03/most-educated-counties-in-the-united-states/

Of the top 20 counties, 5 had populations below 25,000. The greater DC/Baltimore area claimed 7 of the top spots: Arlington, Alexandria, Howard, Fairfax, Loudon, Montgomery and DC. Denver suburban Boulder and Douglas counties won two places. New York and San Francisco placed in the top 20. Marin, CA, Williamson, TN and Orange, NC claimed the other 3 top spots.

Hamilton County is in very fine company. It’s bachelor’s degree percentage increased from 56% in the 2015-19 average to 61% in the 2017-21 average.