Des Moines placed No. 35 out of the 200 largest metro areas in the United States in national brainpower rankings, which were compiled by Portfolio.com and American City Business Journals Inc.

Des Moines’ brainpower index rating was 0.772. The index is based on scores for five levels of educational attainment, based on the relative earning power of adult workers 25 or older.

For Des Moines, the study found:
● 9.3 percent of people have earned graduate or professional degrees
● 24.5 percent stopped at a bachelor’s degree
● 32 percent stopped at an associate degree or attended college but dropped out
● 26 percent stopped at a high school diploma
● 8.15 percent dropped out before high school graduation

Boulder, Colo., was in first place with a rating of 3.941. Cedar Rapids came in at No. 60 and Davenport at No. 116.

Finishing at the bottom was Merced, Calif., with a score of minus 2.558.