Chester County ranks among the nation’s Top 25 communities for education, writes Elliott Davis for U.S. News & World Report.

To determine its rankings, U.S. News & World Report compared more than 3,000 counties and county-equivalents based on how they performed in education-related metrics, such as school proximity and expenditures per pupil.

Chester County ranked first in Pennsylvania and 12th in the nation.

Chester County’s high school graduation rate of 94.1 percent is well above the national median of 89.3 percent. Furthermore, the county’s population has an uncommonly high share (59.4 percent) of advanced degrees, compared with the national median of 29.8 percent.

The county also has a high per-pupil expenditure of $20,108, whereas the national average stands at $12,523.

Chester County also boasts a significant share of students who live within five miles of a public school (98.7 percent), compared to the national average of 80.6 percent.

Lastly, Chester County has a high preschool enrollment of 59.9 percent, while the national median is 43.2 percent.

Montgomery County checked in at No. 15 on the list.

See the entire ranking at U.S. News & World Report.