The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas For 2026

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.

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

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The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas

1. De Queen
2. Trumann
3. Hope
4. Newport
5. Berryville
6. Osceola
7. Stuttgart
8. Malvern
9. Pocahontas
10. Helena-West Helena

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 66 cities in Arkansas to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Arkansas reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Arkansas
• Safest Places To Live In Arkansas

The 10 Dumbest Places In Arkansas For 2026

1. De Queen

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

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 6,058
% Adult High School Dropout: 42.0%
% Highly Educated: 7.0%
More on De Queen: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

2. Trumann

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

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 7,410
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 11.0%
More on Trumann: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

3. Hope

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: 8,671
% Adult High School Dropout: 21.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Hope: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

4. Newport

Source: Wikipedia User Jma661 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 8,024
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Newport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

5. Berryville

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

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,707
% Adult High School Dropout: 21.0%
% Highly Educated: 15.0%
More on Berryville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

6. Osceola

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonrush | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 6,688
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 9.0%
More on Osceola: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

7. Stuttgart

Source: Wikipedia User StuttgartChamber | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,903
% Adult High School Dropout: 17.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Stuttgart: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

8. Malvern

Source: Wikipedia User Chris Litherland | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 10,953
% Adult High School Dropout: 16.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Malvern: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

9. Pocahontas

Source: Wikipedia User Photolitherland Chris Litherland | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 7,538
% Adult High School Dropout: 15.0%
% Highly Educated: 12.0%
More on Pocahontas: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

10. Helena-West Helena

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

1
/10

Population: 8,935
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on Helena-West Helena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

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 2020-2024 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 2026, and it’s our eleventh 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, Hope, Newport, Berryville, Osceola, Stuttgart, Malvern, Pocahontas, and Helena-West Helena.

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

1. Cave Springs
2. Fayetteville
3. Maumelle

For more Arkansas reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In Arkansas
• Cheapest Places To Live In Arkansas
• Most Dangerous Places in Arkansas
• Richest Cities In Arkansas
• Safest Places In Arkansas
• Worst Places To Live In Arkansas
• Most Expensive Places To Live In Arkansas

Dumbest Cities In Arkansas For 2026