The 10 Dumbest Places In Mississippi For 2024


The dumbest places in Mississippi are Leakesville and Forest for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that some places in the Magnolia 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 Mississippi have the highest percentage of adults without a high school degree.

A recent study we published found that Mississippi is the 48th smartest state in the United States, with an average IQ of 95.

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


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


Dumbest Cities In Mississippi 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 61 cities in Mississippi to rank. You can take a look at the data below.

For more Mississippi reading, check out:

The 10 Dumbest Places In Mississippi For 2024

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10
Population: 5,463
% Adult High School Dropout: 33.0%
% Highly Educated: 6.0%
More on Leakesville: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Forest, MS

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,416
% Adult High School Dropout: 31.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Forest: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Columbia, MS

Source: Wikipedia User Sturmgewehr88 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,831
% Adult High School Dropout: 23.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Columbia: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Holly Springs, MS

Source: Flickr User visitmississippi | CC BY-ND 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 6,942
% Adult High School Dropout: 19.0%
% Highly Educated: 13.0%
More on Holly Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Ripley, MS

Source: Wikipedia User Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,440
% Adult High School Dropout: 26.0%
% Highly Educated: 18.0%
More on Ripley: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Louisville, MS

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 6,061
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 14.0%
More on Louisville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

West Point, MS

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

5
/10
Population: 10,063
% Adult High School Dropout: 18.0%
% Highly Educated: 16.0%
More on West Point: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Clarksdale, MS

Source: Wikipedia User Latt | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 14,769
% Adult High School Dropout: 21.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on Clarksdale: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Meridian, MS

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

5
/10
Population: 34,990
% Adult High School Dropout: 20.0%
% Highly Educated: 20.0%
More on Meridian: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Canton, MS

Source: Wikipedia User James Case from Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S.A. | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 10,951
% Adult High School Dropout: 22.0%
% Highly Educated: 21.0%
More on Canton: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the dumbest cities in the Magnolia 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 Mississippi:

  • % 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 Mississippi from dumbest to brightest.

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

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

If you’re measuring the locations in Mississippi 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 Mississippi are Leakesville, Forest, Columbia, Holly Springs, Ripley, Louisville, West Point, Clarksdale, Meridian, and Canton.

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

  1. Flowood
  2. Madison
  3. Clinton

For more Mississippi reading, check out:

Dumbest Cities In Mississippi For 2024

Rank City Population % Adult High School Dropout % Highly Educated
1 Leakesville, MS 5,463 33.0% 6.0%
2 Forest, MS 5,416 31.0% 13.0%
3 Columbia, MS 5,831 23.0% 14.0%
4 Holly Springs, MS 6,942 19.0% 13.0%
5 Ripley, MS 5,440 26.0% 18.0%
6 Louisville, MS 6,061 18.0% 14.0%
7 West Point, MS 10,063 18.0% 16.0%
8 Clarksdale, MS 14,769 21.0% 20.0%
9 Meridian, MS 34,990 20.0% 20.0%
10 Canton, MS 10,951 22.0% 21.0%
11 New Albany, MS 7,657 21.0% 21.0%
12 Horn Lake, MS 26,652 15.0% 17.0%
13 Amory, MS 6,642 15.0% 18.0%
14 Laurel, MS 17,241 19.0% 21.0%
15 Moss Point, MS 12,173 13.0% 15.0%
16 Greenville, MS 29,495 18.0% 22.0%
17 Pascagoula, MS 21,904 13.0% 18.0%
18 Philadelphia, MS 7,065 16.0% 22.0%
19 Corinth, MS 14,520 20.0% 25.0%
20 Pontotoc, MS 5,676 14.0% 21.0%
21 Greenwood, MS 14,242 16.0% 23.0%
22 Picayune, MS 11,804 11.0% 16.0%
23 Mccomb, MS 12,295 12.0% 19.0%
24 Indianola, MS 9,572 17.0% 25.0%
25 Brookhaven, MS 11,714 12.0% 20.0%
26 Grenada, MS 12,594 15.0% 24.0%
27 Gautier, MS 19,007 12.0% 21.0%
28 Kosciusko, MS 7,056 11.0% 20.0%
29 Vicksburg, MS 21,337 15.0% 25.0%
30 D’iberville, MS 12,922 10.0% 20.0%
31 Columbus, MS 23,896 14.0% 25.0%
32 Booneville, MS 9,027 15.0% 26.0%
33 Waveland, MS 7,075 12.0% 23.0%
34 Natchez, MS 14,380 14.0% 27.0%
35 Gulfport, MS 72,524 12.0% 24.0%
36 Cleveland, MS 11,082 15.0% 33.0%
37 Pearl, MS 27,255 12.0% 25.0%
38 Jackson, MS 153,271 13.0% 28.0%
39 Richland, MS 7,208 10.0% 23.0%
40 Senatobia, MS 8,288 7.0% 22.0%
41 Biloxi, MS 49,141 12.0% 29.0%
42 Hattiesburg, MS 48,466 12.0% 34.0%
43 Southaven, MS 54,908 8.0% 25.0%
44 Petal, MS 11,047 9.0% 31.0%
45 Long Beach, MS 16,809 7.0% 28.0%
46 Tupelo, MS 37,939 10.0% 36.0%
47 Batesville, MS 7,464 8.0% 32.0%
48 Hernando, MS 17,262 10.0% 37.0%
49 Bay St. Louis, MS 9,788 6.0% 36.0%
50 Olive Branch, MS 45,938 5.0% 33.0%
51 Starkville, MS 24,274 9.0% 47.0%
52 Diamondhead, MS 9,360 7.0% 37.0%
53 Byram, MS 12,922 5.0% 37.0%
54 Pass Christian, MS 5,802 5.0% 44.0%
55 Oxford, MS 25,713 6.0% 59.0%
56 Brandon, MS 25,142 3.0% 44.0%
57 Ocean Springs, MS 18,417 4.0% 44.0%
58 Ridgeland, MS 24,618 5.0% 52.0%
59 Clinton, MS 27,668 4.0% 48.0%
60 Madison, MS 27,595 4.0% 67.0%
61 Flowood, MS 10,204 2.0% 54.0%
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.

17 thoughts on “The 10 Dumbest Places In Mississippi For 2024

  1. CONSIDERING THE SOURCE , THE WASHINGTON POST, I DON’T PUT MUCH FAITH IN ANYTHING THEY PRINT OR SAY, SINCE THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUPPORTED OUR CURRENT DICTATOR, THE NONE CITIZEN , RADICAL ISLAMIC MUSLIM, WHO ONCE ATTENDED A U S COLLEGE WITH FOREIGN STUDENT GOV ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AND HAS NEVER PROVEN HE IS A CITIZEN, OR EVEN WENT TO SCHOOL, THE POST EVIDENTLY THINK HE IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT, AND GREATEST PERSON TO EVER LIVE, EVEN AFTER ALL HE HAS DONE TO DESTROY AMERICA THEY STILL PRAISE HIM, AND NOW THEY SUPPORT A WOMAN WITH A CRIMINAL BACKGROUND, WHO IS A COMMUNIST, AND HAS NO QUALIFICATION TO BE PRESIDENT, AND HAS COMMITTED TREASON, AND MURDER. SHE COMMITTED FRAUD, TREASON, AND LET 4 AMERICANS DIE IN BENGHAZI , TO COVER HER AND MR O BUM DUMB’S BUT , SINCE THEY WERE RUNNING GUNS TO THE SYRIANS, FUNNY , WHEN O BUM AND ERIC HOLDER WERE RUNNING GUNS TO THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL, I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING FROM THE POST , AND AGAIN WHEN HE AND HILLARY WERE SMUGGLING GUNS TO SYRIAN REBELS , WE HEARD NOTHING FROM THE WASHINGTON POST, MAYBE YOU TIME SHOULD BE SPENT ON THINGS PEOPLE CARE ABOUT, NOT HOW DUMB PEOPLE ARE IN POOR STATES, WHY DON’T YOU RUNG THE SAME STUDY IN NYC, OR CALIFORNIA, WITH 20 MILLION ILLEGALS , MOST NOT SPEAKING ENGLISH , SEE HOW THAT TURNS OUT, OR MAYBE DO THE SAME STUDY WITHING 20 MILES OF THE CAPITAL, SINCE 98 PERCENT ARE POOR BLACKS , LETS SEE HOW DUMB THEY SEEM , YOU WON’T DO THAT , YOU WOULD SAY THATS RACIST, WELL, THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI HAS MORE BLACKS THAN WHITES , I THINK YOU WERE PICKING ON BLACKS AND MAYBE YOUR ALREADY RACIST, HUH!

  2. To the author of this article: I just wonder why you took the time and energy to figure out which city is dumb. It seems you may be emotionally unattached to so carelessly degrade an entire state. You must have an almost unattainable degree. Do you know anyone from Mississippi? Do you care to get to know anyone from Mississippi? You might find the hospitable way of life to be endearing. I agree that even my nurse practitioner friend incorrectly uses “to” and “too”. However, that does not mean she is incompetent and thus a contributing factor as to why this unnecessary article was even compiled and written. There are high schoolers who drop out of school because they are dyslexic and are unable to read fluently. Some of those people end up opening mechanic shops/construction companies and become very well-off. This requires a different kind of intelligence. School is not for everyone. I will say I am offended, (not that you care) and I had rather live in a “dumb” state with hospitable folks than a genius filled state of pompous, unfiltered, heathen folks any day. (Again, not that you care because statistics show that I am too dumb to be offended). Oh and… By the way, you’re welcome for Elvis, Faith Hill, Morgan Freeman, William Faulkner, Oprah, Claude Passeau, Eric Moulds, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, James Earl Jones, Floyd Mayweather, Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Rice, Jim Henson, ANNNNNND Britney.

  3. I once lived in Columbia Ms, it was a real real crap hole, full of drugs and non educated folks some good and some bad. So I can see how it ranked #4. Like I said some good people I knew there, I miss a few of them. I’m glad I moved back home to Louisiana.

  4. I was born in New Hampshire, but spent most of my life in Mississippi, except for the better part of a decade where I studied art in Europe. I returned to my roots in Mississippi by choice. I find articles like this absolutely disgusting and I’d be willing to bet that “author” Sam Sparks has never set foot in the state of Mississippi. The article is pure crap. Why would anyone waste time writing such negative BS? And this is your idea of humor? And you write about OUR stupidity? And this web site is based in North Carolina? There’s the answer. Write about something you know. Obviously North Carolina isn’t immune from idiots. There are plenty of “humorous” stories right there in front of you.

    1. No, it’s Forest-with one “r”. There is a Forrest County, but that is where Hattiesburg is located. Different place. I’ve lived in Mississippi all my life, and I know Forest from Forrest County. The author has it right.

  5. I am very offended by this article! I am from Mississippi and very proud of it. My family lives in Ms and I am very proud of them!!! There is alot to offer in Ms and those “dumd mississippians” as was referred to are the ones who offer it. There is alot of manufacturing that people all around the United States buys these products. There are trucking companies that ship these products, logging companies and paper mills that produce allot of products. There is so much history to be offered!! Tell me where in the United States that if a family knocked at your door and was hungry that that family would feed them!!! There is alot of good people in Mississippi and I am PROUD to be from there even though I am considered a dumb ass!!! I am an educated woman, I own my own business, I own my own house snubs I am deft free!! So tell me how many people around the United States in these smart cities can say that!!

  6. If you’re going to talk about “dumb” cities and criticize the intellect of people, don’t use poor grammar in doing so.

  7. Stupid Sparks. You’re about the Dumbest person on the planet. Yes, that puts you 1 spot in front of Dumber Trump & Dim Carson & 2 places past Shittery Clinton. The best and most productive use of your unreliable, misinformed, racist opinion is to use it as an ass plug. FYI (keeps crap in). It goes not in your rear but in your mouth. This was some of the dumbest crap I’ve ever read. Wipe, wipe flush!!!

  8. This is so offensive. People always want to “dumb down” the south. We are no dumber, ignorant or “dimwitted” than anywhere else in America. We are very hospitable but that doesn’t make us dumb. We may say y’all, sugar, honey & sweetheart alot but at least we have manners. We respect our elders, teach our children to pray & we say thank you, have a nice day. I have visited a few places in the North & felt like I had the plague. Rude, obnoxious people…not all but quite a % were. So, unless you’ve been here, please keep your opinions to yourself. Science & data…PLEASE!!! Thank y’all sugar, have a nice day!!!

  9. It’s funny to me how someone is attempting to call others dumb, but is using the word incorrectly. Dumb means having the inability to speak.

    While I’m at it, let’s take a look at the graduation rate in Washington DC.
    28 % according to the Washington Post.

    Wow. Why not talk about that instead of focusing on an area of the country so far removed from your own.
    Just another example of a piece of non-newsworthy tripe from yet another no-name reporter.

  10. You all are taking issue with the author for laying out his opinion with the state’s data but you’re okay with the Gov never fully funding public education or with MDE paying the State Superintendant of Edu $300k…THATS ALMOST DOUBLE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND WE STILL RANK 50TH IN THE NATION!!!! You all really need to direct that anger in the right direction and not at a newspaper article that is meant for entertainment!!!

  11. The very word , “dumb”, is a very subjective topic. I know plenty of highly “educated” idiots . And I also know plenty that are without a formal education to speak of, that are business owners and highly successful ones at that . Now, I’ll be the 1st one to admit, that a formal college education is a good thing to obtain. But you will find in so many of the majors to choose from, that students are taught how to be great EMPLOYEES. Not necessarily a lot of majors available with instructions on how to be great EMPLOYERS. Just food for thought in selecting any areas to make up any “dumbest” list. Thanks .

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