The District of Columbia leads the 50 states in the percentage of residents with advanced degrees, but compared with the city’s surrounding suburbs, Washingtonians are downright average.

Arlington County earned the region’s boasting rights for its nearly 37 percent of residents with graduate or professional degrees, according to the 2008 American Community Survey, released late Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares with about 27 percent in the District.