The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas For 2024


The dumbest places in Arkansas are De Queen and Trumann for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Natural State have a larger percent of their population that never graduated from high school.

While the emphasis on going to college might be overblown, the fact is that not graduating from high school puts you at a significant disadvantage on average. Educational attainment might not be the best way to measure one person’s intelligence, but it does shine a light on the state.

We will use Saturday Night Science to determine what places in Arkansas have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.

A recent study we published found that Arkansas is the 44th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 97.

But that doesn’t mean that a few cities in Arkansas are a bit slower than others due to a lack of basic education.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


Dumbest Cities In Arkansas Map

Don’t freak out.

Some places are just smarter than others, but that says nothing about the character of the people living there. It’s another data point a real estate agent would never tell you.

For this ranking, we only looked at cities with populations greater than 5,000, leaving us 65 cities in Arkansas to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Arkansas reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas For 2024

De Queen, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10
Population: 6,132
% Adult High School Dropout: 44.0%
% Highly Educated: 11.0%
More on De Queen: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Trumann, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 7,383
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Trumann: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Clarksville, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Ron Reiring | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 9,453
% Adult High School Dropout: 24.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Clarksville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Osceola, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonrush | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10
Population: 6,911
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Osceola: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Berryville, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Clinton Steeds from Los Angeles, USA | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,667
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Berryville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Helena-West Helena, AR

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

1
/10
Population: 9,470
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Helena-West Helena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Warren, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonrush | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,409
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Warren: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Hope, AR

Source: Wikipedia User No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10
Population: 8,921
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Hope: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Newport, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Jma661 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 7,984
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 10.0%
More on Newport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

West Memphis, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Nick8282 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10
Population: 24,351
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on West Memphis: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Natural State

We realize that formal education is only part of it when it comes to being intelligent, but on the other hand, knowing the difference between they’re, their, and there is always going to make you look pretty stupid.

So, we used Saturday Night Science to narrow down our criteria to focus on a city’s educational opportunities and what percentage of the population takes advantage of those opportunities.

In short, we came up with these criteria to determine the dumbest cities in Arkansas:

  • % of the city’s population with less than a high school education (Age 25+)
  • % of city’s population with a college degree (Age 25+)

We got the data from the U.S. Census 2018-2022 American Community Survey.

Then, our algorithm generates a rank for each place in these categories. After crunching all the numbers, a ranking of the cities in Arkansas from dumbest to brightest.

For this ranking, we used every Arkansas city with at least 5,000 residents. We updated this article for 2024, and it’s our tenth time ranking the dumbest cities in Arkansas.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Arkansas where there are a high number of dropouts and adults who never received a formal education, this is an accurate ranking.

The dumbest cities in Arkansas are De Queen, Trumann, Clarksville, Osceola, Berryville, Helena-West Helena, Warren, Hope, Newport, and West Memphis.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the smartest places in Arkansas, according to science:

  1. Cave Springs
  2. Fayetteville
  3. Bentonville

For more Arkansas reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In Arkansas For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 De Queen, AR 6,132 44.0% 11.0%
2 Trumann, AR 7,383 19.0% 9.0%
3 Clarksville, AR 9,453 24.0% 13.0%
4 Osceola, AR 6,911 18.0% 12.0%
5 Berryville, AR 5,667 19.0% 14.0%
6 Helena-West Helena, AR 9,470 19.0% 14.0%
7 Warren, AR 5,409 17.0% 10.0%
8 Hope, AR 8,921 19.0% 16.0%
9 Newport, AR 7,984 15.0% 10.0%
10 West Memphis, AR 24,351 17.0% 14.0%
11 Wynne, AR 8,284 19.0% 17.0%
12 Malvern, AR 10,859 15.0% 12.0%
13 Blytheville, AR 13,276 15.0% 15.0%
14 El Dorado, AR 17,606 17.0% 18.0%
15 Walnut Ridge, AR 5,411 18.0% 20.0%
16 Springdale, AR 86,705 24.0% 24.0%
17 Texarkana, AR 29,404 13.0% 16.0%
18 Stuttgart, AR 8,189 14.0% 17.0%
19 Heber Springs, AR 7,066 11.0% 15.0%
20 Pocahontas, AR 7,384 12.0% 16.0%
21 Lowell, AR 10,005 18.0% 23.0%
22 Camden, AR 10,587 13.0% 17.0%
23 Magnolia, AR 11,044 15.0% 20.0%
24 Morrilton, AR 6,980 10.0% 15.0%
25 Mena, AR 5,605 10.0% 16.0%
26 Alma, AR 5,837 11.0% 17.0%
27 Siloam Springs, AR 17,632 18.0% 26.0%
28 Hot Springs, AR 38,025 14.0% 23.0%
29 Fort Smith, AR 89,315 17.0% 26.0%
30 Beebe, AR 8,447 11.0% 21.0%
31 Pine Bluff, AR 41,172 12.0% 22.0%
32 Van Buren, AR 23,398 13.0% 23.0%
33 Paragould, AR 29,690 10.0% 18.0%
34 Batesville, AR 11,163 12.0% 23.0%
35 Russellville, AR 28,946 16.0% 28.0%
36 Ward, AR 6,149 10.0% 18.0%
37 Harrison, AR 13,154 10.0% 18.0%
38 Mountain Home, AR 12,876 10.0% 22.0%
39 Rogers, AR 69,961 15.0% 33.0%
40 Monticello, AR 8,443 14.0% 29.0%
41 Sheridan, AR 5,002 8.0% 22.0%
42 White Hall, AR 5,559 11.0% 27.0%
43 Pea Ridge, AR 6,851 9.0% 25.0%
44 Searcy, AR 22,961 11.0% 31.0%
45 Jacksonville, AR 29,332 8.0% 25.0%
46 Prairie Grove, AR 7,131 4.0% 19.0%
47 Greenwood, AR 9,544 8.0% 26.0%
48 North Little Rock, AR 64,454 10.0% 30.0%
49 Jonesboro, AR 78,379 10.0% 30.0%
50 Greenbrier, AR 5,755 4.0% 21.0%
51 Cabot, AR 26,543 7.0% 25.0%
52 Farmington, AR 7,991 7.0% 27.0%
53 Tontitown, AR 5,114 10.0% 43.0%
54 Benton, AR 35,318 7.0% 27.0%
55 Marion, AR 13,635 5.0% 26.0%
56 Arkadelphia, AR 10,354 8.0% 33.0%
57 Bryant, AR 20,750 7.0% 36.0%
58 Sherwood, AR 32,715 6.0% 33.0%
59 Centerton, AR 18,655 6.0% 35.0%
60 Little Rock, AR 202,218 7.0% 45.0%
61 Conway, AR 65,159 5.0% 41.0%
62 Maumelle, AR 19,183 5.0% 47.0%
63 Bentonville, AR 54,513 5.0% 51.0%
64 Fayetteville, AR 95,022 5.0% 51.0%
65 Cave Springs, AR 5,521 1.0% 59.0%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

5 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas For 2024

  1. Stupid is as stupid does. You sir or madam are stupid!!! You would call all people without a HS or college degree dumb. Abe Lincoln, Bill Gates included???

  2. This comes from a guy who still lives with his mom,who his self can not get a real job.He sits in front of a computer that he received at Christmas.He has no girlfriend,no car,and crystal his self to sleep at night..

      1. He crystals too. I mean, gotta be high to assume all of the people there are dumb. I’m a citizen of Hope, myself, and while our public school stinks, I myself have an IQ of 146, only 14 points below Einstein.

  3. The comments are amazing. Name calling and quotes from fictional characters. lol
    If you want to dispute the article, use facts, not butthurt.

    I agree, it should be “uneducated” not “dumb”, but it highlights a serious issue in this state. Also, it’s a a web article, meant to provoke an emotional response to get views. You do understand that right?

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