Contemporary studies in urban and regional development stress the importance of large city-regions as key places in modern capitalism taking the form of agglomerations of economic activities by industries, firms and highly skilled people. In this article, we challenge the strong focus on academic human capital in understanding regional growth. We examine to what extent different labour competences and capabilities relate to municipal employment growth using nine stratified, educational categories as proxies for different levels of human capital. Dividing municipalities into four spatial categories ranging from the urban to the peripheral, we conclude that there is a strong spatial distinction of educational structures with an urban bias, and that educational categories other than academic human capital can make an important contribution to our understanding of what drives employment growth on the municipal level.